Spinach
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick and wash the spinach in five or six waters.
Place the spinach in a saucepan that will just hold it.
Cook
Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt over the spinach and cover the pan tightly.
Do not add any water; shake the pan often.
Place the saucepan over a clear fire.
Once the spinach has shrunk and the liquid boils up, it is done.
Drain and serve
Drain the spinach in a clean sieve and give it a little squeeze.
Serve the spinach on a plate without butter, but place it in a cup.
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
- Forms the whole dish; it shrinks and releases its own liquid as it cooks.
The step that matters
Shaking the pan without adding water. Spinach holds enough moisture in its leaves to steam itself. Adding water dilutes the flavour, and shaking the pan often keeps the leaves cooking evenly so none scorch on the bottom while others stay raw.
“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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