1,459 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Let's rehabilitate spinach

We are currently (as I write this) in the season of fresh spinach, and it is a delicious vegetable that unfortunately has a bad reputation among a lot of people, children and teenagers in particular.

I wonder if this lack of appetite isn't due to what I call, probably unfairly, "school food spinach"? That is to say a rather tasteless green purée, of a very unappetizing aspect, and that most children know, alas. And it's a pity, because spinach, well prepared, not chopped, is both delicious and healthy (but with little iron, despite Popeye, a little reference for those who were born before 1980).

But for spinach to stay good, you have to buy it in season, right now, close to home if possible, and prepare and cook it with care, that is to say very briefly.

You don't know how to do it? No problem, I'll show you.

4,733 4.8/5 (15 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Spinach Cooking Recipe Method Blanching

Last modified on: May 7^th 2021

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

Let's rehabilitate spinach

The preparation

This is not very complicated, we treat them a bit like salad: plunged in cold water with vinegar to wash them, you drain, and it's finished.
It's a matter of taste, but if, like me, you don't like the hard part of the spinach leaf, the vein, you can remove it by pulling on it and put it in the compost, it separates from the leaf quite easily.
Well no mystery, it's a lot of work, you have to do it leaf by leaf, but the result is worth your efforts.

épinards retrait nervure centrale

Note that from now on (put them through the salad spinner first) you can already eat the spinach raw, in a salad for example, alone or with other things, it is already very good. It can also replace salad, for example in the burgers we talked about not long ago.

Cooking ways

There are 2 main ways to cook them:

1) Fallen ("Tombés" in French)

This is a rather simple method, rather fast: You put a large frying pan on high heat, with a big knob of butter or a little olive oil, and when all this is quite hot you put a good big packet of prepared spinach leaves in the pan.
Be careful it crackles a lot because of the water left on the leaves, you stir the leaves a bit and they will "fall", that is to say cook, in 2 or 3 minutes maximum.
Put aside, and repeat the operation until all your spinach falls.

épinards pour une tombée épinards tombés

2) Blanching

A little longer method: You boil a big pot of salted water, and you plunge in a big packet of prepared spinach leaves, stir a little and as soon as the boiling starts again, it's cooked (2 minutes max).
Remove from the water with a skimmer or spider and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking.
Drain once cooled, then pass to the salad spinner to dry. You can also consult these detailed explanations.

cuisson des épinards refroidissement rapide des épinards essorage des épinards

Whatever the cooking method you have chosen, the spinach prepared in this way is ready to be used in the recipe of your choice. It retains its beautiful emerald-coloured leafy appearance, especially when blanched, and its delicate taste.

As for the recipes, it is also a matter of taste, but spinach can be used in many recipes, whether raw or cooked!

I can't resist the pleasure of recommending an association that works incredibly well, it's fresh spinach with cream: For example a simple omelette in which you put cooked spinach, or spinach with cream and served with slices of hard-boiled eggs, a delight!

Tosum up: Eating spinach in season, prepared and cooked with care, is the guarantee of delicious seasonal recipes.

Lasts posts

Your oven in "proofer" mode

In the bakery, proofing is a crucial stage in the process of making light, plump breads and pastries. During proofing, the yeast ferments the sugars present in the dough, releasing carbon dioxide which forms bubbles. This process allows the dough to swell and aerate, guaranteeing a soft, light...
September 27^th 20243,1405

The right size of zucchini

When you buy zucchini at the market, you're often offered a wide variety of sizes, from very small to very large. But which ones to choose? Here are a few tips.
September 9^th 20243,4815

The (small) miracle of béchamel sauce

Making a béchamel sauce is going to confront you with a little miracle that happens every time: You pour milk over a roux, it's very liquid, you stir over a low heat, and then all of a sudden, miracle, the sauce sets, it thickens, you've got your béchamel. Let's see what happened.
August 27^th 20243,9394

Pastry doughs

To make a classic tart, you'll need a pastry of course, and if you don't use puff pastry (normally reserved for "fine", in french, tarts), you'll have a choice of shortcrust, shortbread, sweetcrust or "à foncer". Let's take a look at the differences between these four.
August 16^th 20244,0154.4

A few tips on homemade ice cream

If you make ice cream at home, which is a very, very good idea, you'll find a few tips and tricks in this article that should make your life easier. Combined with the site's ice cream recipes, they'll help you improve your production, to the delight of everyone around you, children first.
August 11^th 20244,0585

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

The beautiful story of the croissants

As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very...
October 10^th 201814 K5

How to zest a fruit?

You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...
November 5^th 201342 K3.8

The right way to use a blender

You may well have a blender in your own kitchen. You know, that useful gadget that allows you to liquidize stuff at high speed into a smooth liquid. Of course, the most obvious use that comes to mind is for soups: if you have boiled some vegetables in water, with just a quick blast of the blender,...
May 31^th 201720 K5

A few tips for effective kneading at home

When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23^th 2021272 K 23.7

Coarsely chopped herbs

Although we are in the middle of winter as I write these lines, you should not hesitate to make salads at this time, it is actually quite simple, rather fast, and so pleasant. A while ago, I already told you that a salad is a salad, but a salad with herbs is immediately something much better:...
January 9^th 20219,4704.9