Mom's Creamed Spinach
Mom's Creamed Spinach
While chard, mustard greens, and collard greens are all fine and good, sometimes you just want the comfort of a classic, comforting side: creamed spinach.This recipe by Leah Eskin originally appeared in The Chicago Tribune.
Prep Time
15
minutes
Cook Time
15
minutes
Servings
4
servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 bunches mature spinach
- 1 clove garlic, peeled but whole
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup milk
- whole nutmeg
- freshly ground pepper (white or black)
- kosher salt
Directions
- Snap off thick spinach stems from 2 bunches of mature spinach; leave fine stems intact. Wash spinach thoroughly. Dry none too thoroughly.
- Heap into a big pot along with 1 clove garlic. Cover, set over medium-high heat.
- When steam starts escaping the pot, turn off heat and let rest a few minutes. Peek: Spinach should be intensely green and wilted.
- Fish out garlic and mash spinach with a fork. Reserve the garlic.
- Dump spinach into a colander and press firmly to release liquid. Spinach will be reduced to a damp green puck.
- Set puck on a cutting board and chop tic-tac-toe style – two or three times in each direction, no more.
- In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons flour and whisk until foamy, about 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in 1 cup milk, whisking constantly. When all milk has been added, cook this white sauce until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Season with the mashed garlic, several good grates of nutmeg, some pepper and salt. Stir in spinach. There you go.