I love spinach, especially the gooey, yummy side dish at high-end steakhouses. I didn’t always have this obsession– it arrived after adulthood but it’s here to stay like my wine habit. I was originally inspired by a recipe in Cooking Light, one of my fave magazines (and another obsession) and it has evolved over the years. Serve it with grilled steaks and a green salad and you are good to go… mmm… creamy, healthier goodness wrapped in flavor. It also only takes about 15 minutes to make, including chopping.
Steakhouse Creamed Spinach
2/3 cup milk of choice
2 teaspoons all purpose flour, or flour of choice (cassava works)
Cooking spray or 1/2 t. olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced leek (about one large)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup (2 oz.) cream cheese (but not low fat… that stuff is just wrong)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 turns of a pepper mill (more if you like it spicy)
dash of nutmeg
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan (Reggiano or Grana Padano if you can swing it. Don’t use the stuff in the can – it’s not the same)
1. Combine milk and flour in a small bowl and stir well with a whisk. Set aside.
2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium high heat and add cooking spray or oil. Add leek and garlic, sauté 2 minutes or until leek is soft and tender. Add spinach and sauté 1 minute. Stir in milk mixture, cook about 2 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thick (it won’t make a lot of sauce), stirring constantly. Stir in cream cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, add parmesan cheese and stir until melted through.
Makes about 4- 1/2 cup side servings, but I’ve been known to eat the whole thing myself with a glass of rich sauvignon blanc.
Great Newsletter Taylor. I can’t wait to try the creamed spinach. I’ll make it with fresh spinach, which I will cook the lazy way, by rinsing and putting in a glass bowl, covering with plastic wrap and nuking on high for about 3 minutes, then chopping. It tastes much better and with the packages of baby spinach prewashed at Publix it is just as easy as frozen.
I look forward to you making restaurant recommendations for little hole in the wall local restaurants and don’t forget in our commercial Real Estate practice we work assisting many restaurants in finding locations,leasing, selling and relocating.
Thank you for keeping up the good Gourmet endeavors. We certainly need some dedicated foodies and wine mavins in this town.
Thanks,
Jane Levin
Thanks for the recipe!!!
I want to thank Jane Levin for passing along a great way to cook fresh spinach. I followed her directions along with the published recipe for creamed spinach and scored! Thank you both.
Just love the very last sentence of your recipe… lol!