Mom's Gratineed Spinach

If there’s one thing I truly detest in life, it' canned spinach.
It's one of those foods that I can't image liking. To me they taste bland and are pretty much a mushy mess.
I love fresh (and frozen) spinach though. Even as a kid I would choose Mom’s Gratineed Spinach over French fries any day of the week.
Mom was always happy to whip it up for me time and again.
I mean, when a kid asks for spinach there’s no way a mother would refuse such a request, am I right?

Mom’s Gratineed Spinach is an adaptation of Julia Child’s gratineed spinach with cheese.
Over the years I adapted even more: I made it vegetarian and much lighter (no cream, less butter, etc.) Just as awesome.
These days, whenever I find myself with a bag of fresh spinach and not sure what to do with it, I always resort to this recipe. It seriously never fails.

This is a great side dish for any time of the year, but it's impressive enough for the holidays. I am almost positive you’ll never eat spinach any other way.
Even people that hate spinach love this, it's great to serve alongside a holiday turkey or a ham dinner, or at any meal really.

Trust me though, this is a great vegetarian dish it can be enjoyed by anyone.

Mom’s Gratineed Spinach                                                                                                                     Print this recipe!
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients
Serves 6 as a side

3 lbs fresh spinach
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
1 cup / 250 ml vegetable stock
¾ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (or Swiss cheese or Dubliner cheese), divided
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs (I used GF breadcrumbs)
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C), and place a rack in the middle. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
Stem and wash well the spinach, but don’t dry them.
Place the spinach in your largest pot over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until just wilted, about 4 to 6 minutes.
Drain in a colander.
Immediately fill the pot with cold water and add the spinach to stop the cooking, then drain again.
With your hands squeeze the spinach to extract as much liquid as possible.
Coarsely chop the spinach and set aside.
Wipe out the pot and melt two tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes or so, until all of the moisture from the spinach has boiled off and the spinach begins to stick to the pan.
Lower the heat, add cornstarch and give a good stir.
Add vegetable stock in three batches, stirring constantly and scraping up any stuck spinach. Add salt and pepper, stir in half of the cheese and turn off the heat.
In a small bowl mix the remaining cheese with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Pour the spinach into the baking dish and sprinkle breadcrumbs/cheese mixture on top.
Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and pour it over the top. Bake for 30 minutes until heated through and golden brown.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 173 calories, 12 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, and 10 grams of protein.