Cheats Creamed Spinach

Cheats Creamed Spinach

My cheats creamed spinach recipe is something that I’ve tweaked over the years.

I remember the first time I had creamed spinach. It was part of the celebration meal at Mortons, The Steakhouse in San Fransisco that my now husband and I enjoyed the night we got engaged on holiday.

Over the years I’ve developed this simpler recipe without the need of a roux and endless stirring.  It’s something I tend to have in the winter months with lots of freshly grated nutmeg and it’s lovely with sweet turkey meat!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

500g	Spinach (raw)
120g	White Onion, cut into rings
50g	Butter
300 ml	Creme Fraiche (reduced fat)
1	Whole Nutmeg
	Salt & Pepper to taste

Equipment

• Large Frying Pan with lid
• Wooden Spoon
• Microplane Grater

Method

• Place a large frying pan onto the heat.
• When warm, add the butter along with the onion and take a moment to coat the onion with the butter before covering with the lid and turning down the heat.
• After a few minutes the onion will have softened so start to add handfuls of spinach to wilt.
• A speedy way to wilt spinach is to pop the lid back on for a minute or so.
• Repeat until all of the spinach has been wilted in the pan.
• Add the creme fraiche to the pan and take a few minutes to incorporate it into the spinach and onion mix.
• Turn the heat up so that the creme fraiche starts to bubble.
• As the creme fraiche cooks, it will reduce and thicken.
• When the sauce is thick and creamy, reduce the heat and add a little seasoning to taste.
• Grate the nutmeg into the pan until you have grated at least half of the whole nutmeg into your spinach mix.
• At this stage stir and taste the creamed spinach and feel free to add more seasoning or grate more nutmeg into the mixture.

Notes

• The amount of creamed spinach I made would feed 4-6 people, but adjust the amount accordingly.
• When you add your creamed spinach to your serving dish, add a little extra grated nutmeg as a garnish.
• I recommend using raw spinach instead of frozen as once defrosted, the frozen spinach gives off a lot of water which can take some time to remove by squeezing the spinach in a tea towel – not to mention it’s messy!
• I use reduced fat creme fraiche and not low fat.  The low fat variety will probably split and spoil your dish.