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Spinach and Eggs

A sautéed spinach dish topped with poached eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Spinach and Eggs

Why it works: Spinach and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,400 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Spinach and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the spinach

  1. Pick over and thoroughly wash the spinach, then soak it in cold water for about an hour.

  2. Place the spinach in a large saucepan without adding water, using only the water that clings to it.

  3. Cook on low heat until tender, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

  4. Strain the spinach and rub it through a sieve back into the saucepan.

Finish and serve

  1. Heat the spinach thoroughly, then stir in the cream, butter, pepper, and salt.

  2. Poach the eggs.

  3. Place a piece of toast at the bottom of a round dish, then spoon the spinach on top and flatten it.

  4. Make four impressions in the spinach with the back of a wooden spoon and place the poached eggs in them.

  5. Serve very hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Spinach + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Spinach
Forms the bulk of the dish and provides a soft, moist base once cooked down.
Eggs
Set when poached to give a rich, runny yolk that enriches the spinach.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the spinach.
Butter
Adds fat for flavour and a glossy, smooth finish to the spinach.

The step that matters

Rub the spinach through a sieve. Straining and pressing the cooked spinach removes excess liquid and breaks down fibres, giving a smooth purée that holds its shape under the eggs instead of running.

Swap the spinach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, butter, pepper):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Spinachthe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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