Parmesan Baked Spinach

Our first CSA came with about 2 lbs of fresh spinach.  Delicious, yes, but that is a LOT of spinach.  I knew that I had to think of a dish to cook up a large amount fast, before it went bad.  Who better to look for inspiration from than Julia Child!  This spinach side dish was really good, like, I wanted to lick the dish as well as use the ingredients with a veggie besides spinach.  Will have to experiment with that.  Anyways,

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking - by Julia Child

Servings: 2

Size: about 1 cup

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Rating: 5 - Excellent 

Ingredient List: 

1 lb fresh spinach, cleaned with the stems removed

1 T. unsalted butter

1 T. flour

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup beef stock

1 T. panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (could also use Swiss but I didn't have any on hand)
Spray butter

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375. Add spinach to large pan that has a lid. You will be really surprised how much 1 lb of spinach takes up! It filled up my entire 9 qu. Le Creuset. Add about 2 inches of water to bottom of pan and heat, covered, until spinach is steamed.  Keep an eye on the spinach so it doesn't burn.  I used kitchen tongs to stir a few times during the cooking process. Drain spinach in a colander and use another bowl to press down on the spinach while still in the colander in order to strain/drain so there is minimal water left in the spinach. Fill another bowl (perhaps the one used to press on the spinach) with cold water and add spinach to that to stop the cooking process. Let 'chill' for about two minuets.

Wipe out original pan and melt butter in.  Add spinach and sautee for about 3 minutes until all butter is absorbed.  Sprinkle four evenly on spinach and sautee about 1 minute to slightly cook flour.  Add in stock, mix together and let sautee about 3 minutes more until most liquid is absorbed.  Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Put spinach mixture into a small baking dish and top with panko breadcrumbs, remaining cheese and a few spritzes of spray butter OR use your misto with olive oil (this may increase pp). Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and browned.

Tip:
Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a FAB cookbook.  As I explore it further I wonder how many of Julia's other recipes can be 'lightened up' while retaining flavor.  Stay tuned on that one! The cookbook includes some challenging recipes, but also recipes that could easily be made by the beginner chef.