Spinach
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove yellow or wilted leaves, roots, and debris from the spinach.
Wash the spinach in cold water, transferring it between pans until the last pan is free of sand.
Cook and finish
Place the clean spinach in a large pot and add boiling water.
Cover and cook over high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain the spinach in a colander, pressing out excess water.
Chop the spinach with a sharp knife, but do not chop too finely.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Spinach
- Is the vegetable being cooked, so its leaves soften and reduce in volume when heated.
The step that matters
Pressing out excess water after draining. Spinach holds a lot of water in its leaves. Leaving it wet dilutes flavour and makes the cooked greens watery, so squeezing out the liquid gives a denser, more concentrated result.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.