To Boil Spinach
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick over the spinach, removing all roots and yellow or decayed leaves.
Wash the spinach thoroughly in several changes of water to remove dirt and sand.
Boil and cool
Drain the spinach and add it to a kettle of boiling water with 1 tablespoon of salt.
Boil uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on its condition.
Drain the spinach and transfer it to a pan of cold water for 10 minutes.
Drain again, pressing out all excess water.
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
- Fresh spinach
- Is the main vegetable; cooking softens its leaves and concentrates its flavour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the boiling water so the spinach is flavoured as it cooks.
The step that matters
Pressing out all excess water. Cooked spinach holds a large amount of water in its leaves. Leaving it in makes the spinach watery and dilutes its flavour, so it should be squeezed dry after the cold-water bath.
“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.
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