Recipe contribution by Carolyn Filippi
Serves 6-8 (could halve recipe, and use smaller baking dish)
Ingredients
3 pounds of fresh spinach, cleaned (or 24 ounces of frozen spinach, thawed and drained)
2 cups of milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or 3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg if you aren’t starting with a whole nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or more to taste
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 ounce)
6 hard boiled eggs
3 to 4 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs
Olive oil
Preparation
- If working with fresh spinach, blanch the spinach in boiling water for 1
minute, drain and run cold water over it to cool it down. Press as
much water as you can out of the spinach. (A good way to do this is to
put the drained spinach in the center of a large, clean tea towel, wrap
it with the towel, and wring the moisture out by twisting the towel.)
Chop the spinach. Place in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and
set aside while you make the béchamel. - Heat milk in a medium saucepan until steamy, set aside. In a separate
saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. Sprinkle in the
flour, whisking the mixture until smooth, about a minute or two. Remove
from heat. Slowly pour in the hot milk, whisking the whole time so that
the mixture is not lumpy. Continue to whisk until there are no lumps.
Return the pan to heat and let heat to a simmer, continuing to whisk to
keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The béchamel
sauce will thicken as it cooks. Sprinkle in the ground nutmeg and black
pepper. - Stir the thickened béchamel sauce into the bowl of spinach.
- Grease the inside of a 2-quart gratin pan or casserole all around with a
little butter. Pour the spinach béchamel mixture into a gratin pan, and
even out the surface. Sprinkle the surface with the grated Gruyere
cheese. Slice the hard boiled eggs in half, and arrange, cut side up,
on the surface of the spinach mixture. Press into the spinach mixture
so that the cut side of the eggs are level with the spinach. Sprinkle
with 3 to 4 tablespoons of seasoned bread crumbs. Drizzle the top with a
tablespoon or so of olive oil. At this point you can make the gratin a
day ahead and chill until ready to cook to serve. - Bake, uncovered, in a 375°F oven for 25-30 minutes, until nicely browned.
Notes
If you want, you can also sauté some chopped onion, and/or minced garlic and parsley to mix in with the cooked spinach and béchamel. Without these aromatics, a cleaner flavor of the spinach comes through.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour