There are some dishes that just sound better when it is cold outside. During the warmer weather, if I am going to have spinach, it has to be fresh and crisp. For a cold winter day, a hot, cheesy spinach dish hits the spot. Lucky for us, Maggie has one….
I love creamed spinach, and never hesitate to order it when I see it on a menu. Yet, I had never made it at home. I came across this recipe, which said it was adapted from Ina Garten. So, thanks for another good one, Ina!
I try to convince myself that the healthiness of the spinach cancels out all the butter, cream and cheese in this. Hmmm. Whatever. It is heavenly, and not difficult to make. The hardest part (other than spending a lot of money on expensive cheeses!)is squishing all the water out of the defrosted spinach.
I served this with our Thanksgiving meal this year, and I think it was my favorite dish. I will be making this one again.
Spinach Au Gratin
What you need:
3 pounds of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
4 Tbs butter
1 chopped onion
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1Tbs kosher salt
½ cup grated gruyere cheese
What you do:
Squeeze as much water as possible out of the thawed spinach and set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in a large sauteé pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes or so. Add the flour and nutmeg, continue cooking and stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened.
Add the drained spinach to the sauce. Add ½ cup of the parmesan cheese and mix. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the spinach to a large, lightly greased baking dish, and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese and the Gruyere. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbling.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
This sounds delicious. Going to try it next time my CSA bin has spinach in it. YUM!
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Great idea for Thanksgiving… or any large family gathering. I’m bookmarking this one!!
-JulieC
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Nice! You’re right, it looks perfect for a cold day!
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What’s not to love???Butter, heavy cream and two kinds of cheese 🙂
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I have been looking for ages for a really good spinach casserole recipe. I think this one fits the ticket! I can’t wait to try it.
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Hey Ranting Chef, I seriously love your blog…except I have no idea what some things are, for example, kosher salt (special Jewish salt???), slider buns, red sauce (tomato ketchup??). I’ m quite new to WordPress so these new American food descriptions are pretty exciting. Thanks for reading my post tonight.
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i love spinach and this looks very tasty — can’t wait to try it!
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So good, especially alongside a steak!
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