Creamed Spinach

I decided not to buy any sprouts for Christmas dinner this year. I’m the only one in the household who eats them anyhow and I’d already had some at the works canteen Christmas lunch. But as I headed to bed on Christmas Eve, thinking about the cooking preparations I had already done, I just fancied the idea of something else green on the plate. Too late to purchase a few sprouts now, I decided to resort to spinach from the freezer. I was planning to see if I could make my own version of the creamed spinach side dishes that I have previously enjoyed at Italian restaurants. Hopefully it was not too ambitious to try to make something new on Christmas Day, when I already have a packed schedule of running, then cooking planned for the big day.

So this is what I came up with. I only made a small quantity as I was cooking lots of other side dishes too.

Creamed Spinach

Ingredients

200g frozen spinach
15g butter
15g wholewheat plain flour
100ml crème fraîche
30g cheddar
salt and pepper

Method

Defrost the spinach in a sieve above a bowl, at room temperature, a couple of hours earlier.
Once defrosted, use a fork to squeeze the liquid out of the spinach, reserving this for later use.
Grate the cheese.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Stir in the flour to form a paste.
Stir in the liquid squeezed from the spinach.
Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the spinach and crème fraîche.
Stir in the grated cheese.
Serve hot as a side dish.

It tasted delicious, and son1 thought so too. What a result as he certainly wouldn’t have touched a sprout, but he had seconds of this.

I’d love to hear what dishes you have added to a menu at the last minute?

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