8.11.07

Frozen spinach

Eek!, you say.
Do I want curses beating about my head? Haven´t I seen the River Cottage DVDs a million times? What am I thinking?
Well, I´m thinking that in real life it´s not always possible to have the fresh stuff to hand. It´s not practical to have whole bunches of spinach in danger of wilting lying around your fridge. Sometimes you just want a few leaves to provide a green note in a bowl of soup. Or you´re in a hurry and can´t really stop to trim and clean a whole lot of leaves. Or you can´t be bothered, and what´s wrong with that? It just makes sense to have some spinach (and peas, and green beans) stashed in the freezer, however many times a week you go to the market.
I grew up in a house where frozen spinach is boiled and then sautéed. But here´s how I do it which is quicker, and only uses one pan. If anyone thinks this is a dodgy method and I´ll die in convulsions pretty soon, please don´t tell me. I think it´s just great.

All you need is a heavy skillet with a lid. Heat a little olive oil in it and add your frozen spinach. It helps if it´s in pieces the size of undernourished golf balls, which is of course the lowly kind of frozen spinach, and if you think this is going from bad to worse, that´s too bad.
Add salt, cover the pan, turn down the heat. Wait maybe five minutes, dduring which time you can shake it a little. That´s it. Your perfectly serviceable spinach, without having to wait, drain, or do anything boring.
You can add cream and let it bubble down, of course. And before adding the spinach you can brown a little garlic, and add raisins. Pimentón will go well at the end, if you´re so minded, or nutmeg. Anything, really.
It´s not spectacular, but when there´s a lunchbox to be filled, or a lasagna/spanakópita to be assembled at a moment´s notice, it´s pretty good.

10 comentarios:

Gloria Baker dijo...

Me encantan todos tus dibujos!! yo tambièn tengo a mano siempre espinacas congeladas y sacan mucho de apuro, me estaba acordando que tengo la receta de un rollo de espinacas delicioso y no lo he puesto en el blog, cuando pueda lo traduzco. Cariños, Gloria

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) dijo...

I have to ask -- do you squeeze the water out of the frozen spinach and then dump the whole clump into the pan? Sometimes (don't tell anyone), that's what I do.

lobstersquad dijo...

Gloria: gracias! este salía en una revista, el tema era ski, pero me pareció que iba bien. estaré deseando ver tu receta de espinacas.
Lydia: they go straight into the pan, frozen, and the water seems to get lost on the way, I don´t know how it is. Pure magic. I´m going to have to rephrase the post, I think.Thanks for asking.

lobstersquad dijo...

Gloria: gracias! este salía en una revista, el tema era ski, pero me pareció que iba bien. estaré deseando ver tu receta de espinacas.
Lydia: they go straight into the pan, frozen, and the water seems to get lost on the way, I don´t know how it is. Pure magic. I´m going to have to rephrase the post, I think.Thanks for asking.

Wendy dijo...

Fresh and seasonal is great, of course, but so is frozen veg! Apart from brocolli. Frozen brocolli is wrong. :)

Warda dijo...

Ximena, this is exactly how I "defrost" my spinach and peas. In fact I always keep a bag of frozen peas for soups, sautéed vegetables or for Layla's little bruises.

xps dijo...

Yo prefiro elephontes. donde este el carrrot cake......

christianne dijo...

Spinach is one of my all-time favorite foods, so I regularly use the frozen stuff. I'll have to try this method - I normally rinse it under cool water to defrost before squeezing out the excess. This will be a big time saver!

Anónimo dijo...

You know, that sounds delicious! Raisins, pimenton, golden garlic. Yum... So hungry for breakfast now!

Anónimo dijo...

Ann is right. That does sound like a delicious combination. I use frozen spinach too. Not always but especially if I'm making it for more than two people. It seems as if you need a bushel of fresh spinach to feed six people, and I never have enough time to clean that much or space to store it.

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