Creamed spinach

Creamed spinach

Autumn

When I was younger we used to take the occasional summer holiday in southern France. I remember the long, hot drive, in the old Citroen CX. My brother, sister and I would all go to sleep in the boot. We’d stay in our dear friend Peter’s house, just south of Cahors. The food was simple there – bread, cheese, saucisson, some duck cooked on the fire, lentils and such. It was on one of these trips that I first tasted creamed spinach. We’d stopped at Le Moulin de l’Abbaye in Brantôme. I’d never eaten anything quite like it before; it made me so happy I was allowed to order another serving.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 300ml (10½fl oz) whole milk
  • 1⁄2 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, bashed, skin on
  • 2 bay leaves, torn
  • 500g (1lb 2oz) main crop spinach
  • 50g (2oz) butter, plus extra for finishing
  • 40g (1½oz) plain flour
  • nutmeg, for grating
  • 1 large handful of white breadcrumbs (keep them coarse)
  • 1 large handful of finely grated Cheddar cheese
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Pour the milk into a medium pan and place it over a medium–high heat. Add the onion, bashed garlic and bay leaves and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the flavours to infuse the milk for 15–20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in the spinach and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the leaves are tender. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, squeeze all the excess liquid from the spinach. Roughly chop it, and set aside.

Now make a white sauce. Set a medium pan over a medium heat, add the butter and, when bubbling, add the flour. Stir and cook for 1 minute, then pour in the infused milk, straining it through a sieve as you do so. Discard the onion and herbs. Use a whisk to work the white sauce as you cook it for 1–2 minutes, until it thickens. Season well with salt and pepper and a good grating of nutmeg, then turn off the heat and fold in the chopped, cooked spinach. Spoon the creamy spinach into a small ovenproof dish.

Combine the breadcrumbs with the cheese and scatter this over the surface of the spinach mixture. Dot with a little butter and place in the oven for 8–12 minutes, or until crisp and golden on top and bubbling hot underneath. Serve at once.

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