Best Ever Italian Spinach Recipes

THE BEST SPINACH SALAD EVER

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread the slivered almonds onto a baking sheet, and toast until the nuts start to turn golden brown and become fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Watch the nuts carefully as they bake, because they burn quickly. Once toasted, set the nuts aside to cool to room temperature.
• Mix together the mayonnaise, milk, and sugar in a large salad bowl. Stir in the bacon bits and Parmesan cheese until the dressing is well combined and creamy.
• Place the spinach leaves, chopped cauliflower, and toasted almonds into the salad bowl, and stir lightly to coat with dressing.

GARLIC SAUTEED SPINACH

Steps:

• Rinse the spinach well in cold water to make sure it's very clean. Spin it dry in a salad spinner, leaving just a little water clinging to the leaves.
• In a very large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, but not until it's browned. Add all the spinach, the salt, and pepper to the pot, toss it with the garlic and oil, cover the pot, and cook it for 2 minutes. Uncover the pot, turn the heat on high, and cook the spinach for another minute, stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the spinach is wilted. Using a slotted spoon, lift the spinach to a serving bowl and top with the butter, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of sea or kosher salt. Serve hot.

SPINACH RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 - 3 minutes until translucent. Add tomato, water, salt and pepper.
• Stir, reduce heat to medium, simmer for 5 minutes. Optional: add 1/2 cup water and blend sauce until smooth (I do this for guests!).
• Stir through basil or dried herbs. Set aside.
• Place spinach in a colander and press out most of the liquid (don't need to thoroughly squeeze dry).
• Place Spinach in bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix, taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste (different cheeses have different saltiness).
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Choose a baking pan which will comfortably fit about 20 cannelloni - mine is 21 x 26 cm / 8.5 x 10.5".
• Spread a bit of Sauce on the base.
• Transfer Filling to a piping bag with a large nozzle (that fits in the tubes), or use a strong ziplock bag. Or do this step using a knife (it's a bit tedious though!).
• Pipe the filling into the tubes. Place in baking dish.
• Pour over remaining Sauce, covering all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil, scatter over cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Serve, garnished with extra basil if desired.

THE BEST SPINACH LASAGNA RECIPE

Steps:

• For the Spinach: Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add a few large handfuls of spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. Continue adding spinach a handful at a time until it is all in the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until spinach expels its moisture and most of that moisture evaporates, leaving a dry bottom as you stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer spinach to a fine mesh strainer set over the sink and press out excess moisture with a rubber spatula. Let spinach continue to drain as you prepare the ricotta mixture.
• For the Ricotta: Transfer half of the ricotta, both eggs, the Parmesan, and the nutmeg to the bowl of a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute.
• Transfer mixture to a large bowl but do not wipe out food processor. Transfer spinach to food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 10 to 12 short pulses. Add spinach and remaining ricotta to the ricotta mixture and fold gently to combine.
• For the White Sauce: Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add flour and increase heat to medium high. Cook, stirring butter and flour with a whisk until paled golden blond, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in milk. Continue to cook, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and add 3/4 of mozzarella and Comté, Gruyère, or Emmenthale cheese. Whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• To Assemble: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta sheets a few at a time and cook until barely tender, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer and run under cool water until well chilled. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel in a single layer. Continue until all pasta is par-cooked and dried.
• Drizzle a small amount of white sauce over the bottom of a lasagna pan or large casserole. Add a layer of noodles. Top with 1/12th of spinach mixture and 1/12th of remaining white sauce. Continue layering pasta, spinach, and white sauce until you lay down the top sheet of pasta.
• Spread remaining spinach mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Comté or Emmentaler cheese and drizzle with remaining white sauce. Spread into an even layer with a rubber spatula.
• Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until bubble and lightly browned, about 20 minutes longer. Let rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

BEST EVER ITALIAN SPINACH

Steps:

• Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess water.
• Now, squeeze some more and set aside.
• In a saute skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil and garlic.
• Cook until garlic is golden brown (don't burn it!).
• Add spinach and seasonings, saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Break in eggs and continue to saute and stir until eggs are cooked and thoroughly mixed into the spinach.
• Drain any excess oil and transfer to serving platter.
• Sprinkle grated Paremesan cheese over the top, amount to your liking.

BEST EVER SPINACH CAESAR SALAD

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the egg and cook for 5 minutes, until soft-boiled. Remove the egg with slotted spoon and crack it into a blender, using a small spoon to scoop out all of the egg yolk and white. Add the anchovies, lemon juice, whole garlic clove and mustard and blend until smooth. With your machine on, add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a thin stream. Add two thirds of the finely grated Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
• 2. In a large bowl, toss the baguette cubes with the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the remaining finely grated Parmesan along with the paprika and minced garlic and toss to coat. Spread the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, until crisp and golden, watching carefully. Let cool slightly.
• 3. In the same large bowl, toss the spinach with the dressing, croutons and the shredded Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to salad plates. Enjoy!
• * Add a little extra oil, if dressing is too thick for you.

SPINACH BALL APPETIZERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl mix together spinach, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, butter, green onions, eggs, cheddar, salt, pepper, and garlic.
• Form into balls and place on a large greased baking sheet.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until spinach balls are golden brown and cooked through.

CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until softened and translucent, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add cream cheese and cook, stirring, until melted.
• Add heavy cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne; cook for 2 minutes.
• Add mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir until combined and melted.
• Fold spinach into cream sauce until evenly combined, cooking for an additional minute or so to warm through.
• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. (If the spinach seems a little watery, cook over medium-low heat until any excess liquid evaporates.)
• Serve immediately while the sauce is still shiny and cheese is gooey.

THE 35 BEST THINGS TO COOK WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat heat. Add garlic a give a quick stir until fragrant, about 20 seconds.
• Add in spinach, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until spinach wilts.