R E C I P E S

Gratin d’Épinards

By Edward Behr

A gratin d’épinards, made with good old creamed spinach, goes well with grilled steak and other meats. The following proportions yield extra white sauce, which could be used at another meal to make a gratin of another vegetable. Certain varieties of spinach, especially when the plants are young in early spring, are mild and not very astringent; other varieties, especially when the plants are older and the weather is hotter and drier, are stronger flavored. You don’t know for sure until you taste. Mild spinach shouldn’t be boiled but cooked in only the water that clings to it from washing. Adding some heavy cream to the gratin makes it richer and smoother. To make a dish that stands more on its own, add several hard-cooked eggs, halved and submerged in the spinach (before you cover it with breadcrumbs); they complement its taste.

6 tablespoons (85 gr) unsalted butter plus more for the gratin

½ cup (65 gr) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 quart (1 lt) cold milk

3 pounds (1.5 kg) very fresh spinach

about ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream, optional

nutmeg

salt and black pepper

¾ cup (75 gr) fine breadcrumbs, dried or from stale bread

Melt the 6 tablespoons (85 gr) of butter in a large, thick-bottomed saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook and stir the mixture for 1 minute. Add the milk all at once and immediately whisk the combination smooth, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Stir continuously, switching to a wooden spatula or spoon and still covering the whole bottom, until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Lower the heat and cook at a steady low bubble for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally across the whole bottom of the pan. Place a heat diffuser beneath the pan if necessary to keep the sauce at a bare bubble and prevent sticking and browning. Set aside.

Clean the spinach carefully in a sinkful of water and remove it to a colander. Drain the sink, rinse away the grit, and repeat the washing until there is no sign of grit. Remove all the stems from the spinach, pulling them backward from the older leaves to take the tough veins. If the spinach is mild, cook it over medium heat, covered, in a 2-gallon (8-lt) pot, with only the washing water that clings to it, checking frequently and mixing and turning the mass. It will be done in about 5 minutes. If the leaves are stronger flavored, bring a 2-gallon (8-lt) pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil and cook the spinach for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, and run cold water over it, so it is cool enough to touch. Form small balls of spinach in your hands, pressing to expel water and leave the spinach dry.

Chop the spinach coarsely. In a bowl, combine it with roughly an equal amount of white sauce by volume, adding the white sauce little by little along with, optionally, some heavy cream until you achieve the taste and texture you want. (The warm mixture will have the same consistency now that the browned gratin will have when it comes hot from the oven.) Grate in just enough nutmeg to reinforce the dairy taste — better too little than too much — and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Put the mixture in a shallow oven dish in which the spinach will make a ½- to ¾-inch (1- to 2-cm) layer. Cover with breadcrumbs and then generously with shavings of cold butter. Bake until the contents are very hot throughout — 30 minutes or more. Broil, watching carefully, until the surface is well browned. Serves 6.