Pierre Franey’s Creamed Spinach
Updated Nov. 13, 2023
- Total Time
- About 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2½pounds spinach in bulk, or two 10-ounce plastic wrapped bags
- 1tablespoon butter
- 1tablespoon flour
- 1cup milk
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt to taste, if desired
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
139 calories; 6 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 817 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
If bulk spinach is used, pick it over to remove and discard any tough stems and blemished leaves. Rinse the spinach thoroughly and shake off excess water. There should be about 2 pounds cleaned weight, or 16 cups.
- Step 2
Bring enough water to a boil to cover the spinach when it is added and stirred down. Add spinach and cook 2 minutes and drain. Run under cold running water until chilled. Empty the spinach into a deep colander and press to extract most of the water.
- Step 3
Put the spinach into the container of a food processor or an electric blender and blend thoroughly. There should be about 1¾ cups.
- Step 4
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, stirring with a wire whisk. Add the milk, stirring rapidly with the whisk. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes and add the spinach. Stir to blend. Heat and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
A simple suggestion: Use much less water to cook the spinach. Marcella Hazan famously recommended no more water than clings to the leaves after washing. This approach saves most of the flavor and nutrients rather than leaching them out of the leaves and pouring them down the drain.
Instead of boiling the spinach, we put it in a pyrex dish, cover with cling wrap, and microwave it for a few minutes until wilted but still nice and green. Easy, fast, and clean. Then press out the water and hand chop it, which is also quick and clean.
No real need to puree. In fact, the texture becomes a big blah. Instead, steam the spinach, rinse in cold water, squeeze out excess moisture (use a paper towel) and chop coarsely. Then follow the directions. I've done this for years and it is as good as any steakhouse spinach.
2025 here, Christmas. To get the equivalent of the 20 ounces of bagged spinach that the recipe calls for, I bought four “6-ounce” bags of baby spinach from Publix (our notoriously overpriced grocery store in Florida). Every single bag weighed 5 ounces out of the package. I had to supplement with a fifth bag I had reserved for another dish. This gave me 25 ounces, or about 1.5 pounds. $25 for spinach, and I still didn’t have enough for this recipe. It seems to be written incorrectly. Please make the math work that “two 10- ounce bags makes 2 1/2 pounds.” I agree with others that it was a little bland, and processing it in the food processor made it a bit like spinach pablum. I suggest chopping the cooked spinach by hand instead, and amping up the flavor in the béchamel.
Great but with some minor modifications. Sauteed 1 clove garlic and half a shallot with the bechamel. Made bechamel with a mix of heavy cream and milk, and only pureed half the spinach (baby spinach leaves left whole otherwise). Added about 1/4 cup parm to finish.
I briefly sautéed a bit of garlic and shallot in butter and then wilted fresh lettuce in it. I added some nutmeg, salt and pepper, cream, just a tablespoon of Parmesan and another of sour cream. Very tasty.