thefoodlessprocessed

A vegetable of good quality and cooked with care is, by definition nutritious. The one essential guiding principle behind the cook’s efforts is to make the vegetable delicious.

The links to fuller explanations of less processed options are: Vegetables, Butter, Cream, Gruyère AOP, Nutmeg.

Equipment

• a Large Pot (8 quarts/7.5 liters or thereabout)
• a Colander
• a Cutting Board and Cook’s Knife (aka Chef’s Knife)
• a Sauté Pan: for example, an enameled cast iron sauteuse with a black baked-on porcelain enamel interior
• a Wooden Spoon or Spatula
• a Ceramic Baking Dish, buttered: The one in the photo measures 8″ x 8″ (about 20 cm x 20 cm

Ingredients

Note: The number of servings isn’t usually given in these recipes. Serving sizes depend on the menu and the individuals for whom it is designed. But in this case we make an exception because a pound of spinach looks like a lot of spinach before it is cooked. The recipe as given below will make roughly 2 or 3 servings.

• 1 pound (450 g) Fresh OrganicYoung Spinach
• 2 Tablespoons of Salted Butter
• a Small Wedge of Yellow Onion, finely chopped (approximately 1/8 cup (20 g) once chopped
• 1 Clove of Garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (60 ml) of Dry White Wine
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) of Organic Heavy Cream
• about 2/3 cup (75 g) of Imported Gruyère AOP, grated
• Freshly grated Nutmeg or Organic Ground Nutmeg
• Freshly ground Black Pepper

Making the Spinach

Gas or Convection Oven:  thefoodlessprocessed uses a gas oven. The conversions from Fahrenheit to Celsius do not attempt to adjust for differences between baking in a gas or convection oven. I have no experience using a convection oven, and leave adjustments to the better judgement of you who do have.

• Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
• Young spinach leaves, labeled “baby” in the U.S., need not be trimmed. The stems are very tender and the leaves may be used whole as they are.
• If the spinach is fresh and requires washing, fill the sink with cold water and soak the leaves to remove grit and dirt. If necessary, drain the water, refill the sink, and soak again. Remove the spinach to a colander.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and wilt it just until it collapses. Drain it in the colander. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze it as dry as possible and place it on a cutting board.
• Roughly chop the spinach.
• Melt the butter in the sauté pan and add the onion and garlic. Sauté them until the edges of the onion begin to brown.
• Add the wine and simmer it to reduce by half and the reduction takes on a golden color.
• Pour in the cream and reduce it to a thick-ish, bubbling sauce.
• Add the spinach, a little nutmeg and some freshly ground black pepper and stir everything together.
• Transfer the spinach to the baking dish. Sprinkle it with the cheese and a little nutmeg,

• Bake the dish for 10 minutes. It will be bubbling and beginning to brown and may be placed under the broiler to brown a little more if you prefer.