National Spinach Month – Italian recipes everyone will love!

October 15, 2:29 AMItalian Living ExaminerSerenella Leoni

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Not only is October National Apple month but it is also National Spinach Month.  In October, spinach is at its most fresh, has the best flavor and is quite readily available. Some people love spinach while others (especially children) have a difficult time eating it. 

We all know that Popeye made himself very strong by eating spinach.  According to Italians, he may also have been protecting himself against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and other diseases at the same time.

Spinach is very rich in nutritional elements and a fairly good source of iron. It's loaded with vitamins and minerals, some of which are hard to find in other foods.

Spinach contains vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin E. In addition, it is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium.
Spinach is widely used in Italian recipes in soups, appetizers, pasta, etrees and in stuffings for pasta. Below are some delicious Italian recipes to help you convince your family that spinach actually tastes good!

Tagliatelle with Spinach
Doses for 4 people:

• 10 oz. fresh pasta noodles (tagliatelle)
• 1 ½ lb. fresh spinach, cooked, drained and chopped
• 5 T butter
• 1/3 cup cream
• Parmigiano cheese, grated (about ½ cup or according to taste)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• salt, pepper (according to taste)

In a large frying pan melt half of the butter over low heat, add the onion and cook until wilted. Add the cleaned, cooked and chopped spinach.  Flavor with salt, and peeper and sprinkle half the Parmesan cheese into the mixture and incorporate. In a large stock pot, bring lots of water to a boil then salt to taste (should taste like sea water). Cook the noodles until they are ‘al dente.’  Drain in a colander. Place in a bowl and add the remaining butter.

Grease a Pyrex pan with some butter and layer the tagliatelle, some grated Parmigiano (Parmesan) cheese and the spinach mixture, ending with the latter. Pour the cream over everything and add a final sprinking of Parmesan. Brown in oven at 200 degrees C (400 F).

Spinach Florentine

• kilo of spinach, cooked and chopped
• 4 eggs,
• 7 T of butter,
• 1 pint of milk,
• 4 – 5 T grated parmesan cheese,
• white flour,
• salt and pepper

Clean and wash the spinach. Drain and cook until tender. Let cool then drain or squeeze out the liquid with your hands. Chop.the spinach (grossly).  Heat a frying pan with half the butter and sauté the spinach.  Add salt to taste.

In a saucepan, prepare a bechamel sauce (Besciamella) with 2 tablespoons of flour, the remaining butter, the hot milk and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Place the spinach in a buttered Pyrex pan. With a spoon hollow out 4 places in the spinach and place the contents of an egg in each one. Salt and pepper the eggs, then completely cover everything with the bechamel sauce (Besciamella). Sprinkle with another 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and cook in warm oven (180 °C, 360° F) for approximately 20 minutes.

Note: In the language of international cuisine, all dishes "à la Florentine” refer to spinach. In fact, spinach recipes in Florence and, above all, in its neighbor Arezzo, are prepared with béchamel sauce (Besciamella). Noble houses in the 18th century famously cooked spinach sformato (a type of pie) with béchamel sauce.

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