Fresh in salads or cooked as a filling: the thousand ways to serve this vegetable loved by young and old
Known and appreciated from the first years of age thanks to a very famous cartoon, spinaches they are truly a food rich in healthy properties for the body. Sources of vitamins A and C, they contain many carotenoids which, with their antioxidant properties, contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. They also have a lot of fibers and mineral salts, useful for intestinal regularity.
To fully enjoy all of these benefits, spinach should be eaten raw, in salads, or steamed. Here are some suggestions to bring them to the table.
Spinach and potato roll
You can also prepare this dish the day before: just heat it up for a few minutes in the oven before serving. Start by preparing boiled potatoes, to which you will add a whole egg and grated Parmesan. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet covered with a film greased with butter. Separately, boil the spinach in boiling salted water and when cooked, drain and brown them for a few minutes in a pan with oil and a few cloves of garlic. At this point, spread the spinach over the boiled potatoes, close in a roll and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes. After this time, cut the potato and spinach roll into slices that you will place on a greased baking sheet. Garnish the slices with sage leaves that you have browned in oil and garlic and bake until a crispy crust has formed over each slice. Serve hot.
Spinach pudding on fondue
An excellent appetizer that can be prepared in minutes. Remove the crust from six slices of bread loaf, chop them and put them in a bowl with two eggs and 200 g of fresh cream. Salt and pepper. Meanwhile, boil the spinach and then sauté the spinach in a little oil and garlic. Squeeze them and add them to the eggs and cream and mix the mixture well. Butter the pudding molds and fill them 3/4 of the way with the spinach cream. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, until the mixture has swollen. Serve before it deflates on a fondue prepared by cutting the fontina cheese into cubes and cooking it in a saucepan with two egg yolks, a spoonful of flour and milk to cover everything. When the cheese has melted, blend with the blender to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
Rice with salmon and spinach
Brown the chopped shallot in a little butter, add the fresh spinach and cook for a few minutes. Blend the spinach and mix it, adding water if necessary, and then add the rice. Toast, add some broth and cook until the rice is al dente. Slice the smoked salmon into fillets, add it to the rice, stir in a spoonful of mascarpone and serve with chopped chives.
In soup with beans
A perfect dish for these winter evenings. Fry the chopped celery, carrot, onion and garlic in a tablespoon of oil. Add the previously soaked cannellini beans, sauté a few minutes and then add the broth. Cook for about an hour. Meanwhile, clean and cut the spinach into pieces, add them to the broth and cook for twenty minutes. In a separate saucepan, heat the sprigs of thyme and rosemary in a tablespoon of oil. Filter the oil and pour it over the spinach soup when ready. Serve with croutons of toasted homemade bread rubbed with garlic.
Rolls with ham
This dish is perfect for a rustic family lunch. Prepare a cream by blending fresh spinach with soft cheese such as robiola. Spread the spinach cream over the slices of cooked ham, cut a little thick, and rolled up, forming rolls. Arrange them on a serving dish and garnish with a sauce made from basil and pine nuts blended with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Croissant with spinach and cashew nuts
A tantalizing idea, ideal for convincing even the little ones to eat vegetables. Sprinkle a disc of baking paper with sesame seeds, place a disc of puff pastry on top that you will divide into four parts. Fill each part with a tablespoon of washed and squeezed fresh spinach and brown in a drizzle of oil with a clove of garlic. Add some chopped unsalted cashews, close the slices of puff pastry by rolling them from the base to form croissants, place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 180 ° for about 20 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden. . Serve the croissants as an aperitif.
Stuffed shells
A first course, this, rich and very easy to prepare. Cook the pasta shells in salted water, drain when al dente and set aside. In a bowl, mix the ricotta with the sautéed spinach with a drizzle of oil and garlic. Fill the shells with the ricotta and spinach cream, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, arrange them on a greased pan covered with béchamel and bake at 180 ° for twenty minutes. Serve hot.
Parmigiana of spinach and taleggio
For this appetizer, get some small cocotte. Boil the spinach, squeeze them and toss them in a saucepan with a little oil. Grease the cocotte with butter, distribute the spinach alternating with slices of taleggio cheese until they are full, sprinkle everything with chopped walnuts and bake at 180 ° for 10 minutes. Serve very hot.
Spinach and gorgonzola pies
For this appetizing finger food, prepare a shortcrust pastry by mixing chopped hazelnuts with the flour. Line the dough with the molds on the bottom of which you will spread the fresh spinach browned in a knob of butter and small pieces of gorgonzola. Finish with two beaten eggs and bake at 180 degrees for twenty minutes. Serve immediately.
Crepes of spinach and porcini mushrooms
A very refined first course. Prepare crêpes by mixing a part of buckwheat flour with 00 flour. Meanwhile, boil the spinach in plenty of salted water, squeeze them and place them in the center of the crêpes. Add fresh or frozen porcini mushrooms to the spinach, browned in a knob of butter with pepper and salt. Close the crêpes, place them in a greased pan and bake at 180 degrees for fifteen minutes. Serve hot.
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