January 13, 2010 | Side Dishes, Vegetables
I have an old journal where I started writing recipes down when I was in college (ahem, that’s a few years ago). I added recipes for my childhood neighbor’s English toffee, my mom’s cheese ball, my roommate’s apple pie, a young colleague’s favorite appetizer, and eventually, the recipe for my mother in law’s party spinach. I’m sure it was named this because it was the “fancy” version of spinach you put out when you wanted to impress your guests. It’s still one of my favorites today.
Begin by sauteing fresh spinach (you can use frozen, but I really think fresh is better).
And when the spinach wilts down like this…
…remove it to a strainer and squeeze out all of the excess liquid. Chop it up slightly, add the remaining “party” ingredients, and pour it into a buttered casserole dish.
You can top it with ordinary bread crumbs, but I found that if I ground up my Garlic Croutons in the food processor they made a killer topping. My dad HATES cooked spinach (something about the nuns of his childhood forcing him to eat it), but he actually had some of this on Christmas because he wanted that topping. Try this for your next dinner party and see if you friends are impressed!
Party Spinach
Serves 81 extra large bag of baby spinach
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated, divided
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup butter, meltedCook spinach just until wilted, drain, squeeze dry and chop roughly. Heat butter in a large skiller over medium high heat, add mushrooms and onions and cook until softened and the mushrooms have released much of their water. Combine spinach, mushrooms and onions, mayonnaise, sour cream, 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano and stir together. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. Combine remaining Parmigiano with the bread crumbs and pour over the top. Drizzle with melted butter and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and cooked through, about 45 minutes.
I’m having a dinner party next week and just might give this a try. I love creamed spinach for a dinner party side dish and this sounds like a delicious substitution. Thanks for the erecipe Michele
This looks like a fancy creamed spinach. It will be much easier to make ahead… I’ll have to give it a try!