How to cook spinach

How to prepare and cook spinach

Baby spinach leaves need no more than a quick rinse before use. The older leaves might need a more thorough wash in cold water and you may also want to trim or tear off any woodier stems.
Blanched spinach – serves 2

• 400g-450g spinach or 250-300g baby spinach
• butter or olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Half-fill a large pan with water and bring it to the boil. Tip the prepared spinach into the boiling water. It will start to wilt down quite quickly, once it has wilted (about 1-2 mins) drain it through a colander and allow all the excess water to run out, pressing it with the back of a spoon or underside of a ladle will help force excess water out of the spinach through the colander.
2. Put the cooked spinach in a serving dish and add butter or olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. A little grating of nutmeg also works well with spinach.
3. If you want to serve the spinach cold (or you want to heat it through later in another recipe) plunge it into a bowl of iced water immediately after it has been wilted. This will preserve it’s vibrant colour and cool it down rapidly. Carefully drain once cooled and pat the spinach dry with kitchen roll.

Wilted – serves 1-2

• 250-300g bag baby spinach

This is a really quick and easy method.

1. Simply fill a colander with your washed baby spinach and set it over the sink. Boil a full kettle.
2. As soon as the water has boiled carefully pour the contents of the kettle over the spinach so the water wilts the leaves then runs through the colander down the drain.
3. Force the excess water away from the spinach by pressing it down in the colander with the back of a spoon or ladle then season and serve or use in your chosen recipe.