Creamed Spinach

Serves 2-4
Preparation: 10 mins
Cooking: 8 mins

This is the perfect main-course accompaniment to meats, white fish or poached eggs, with minimum fuss and maximum flavour, one of your 5-a-days and iron-rich (ask Popeye!). It can be reheated, or even finished off under the grill for that slightly gratined bite. Béchamel is the basis to this sauce.

• 300g of spinach, washed
• 30 g of salted butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of self-raising flour (or plain flour)
• Pint of semi-skimmed milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Add the spinach to a pan of simmering water, place the lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 4 minutes. Drain immediately, making sure you extract as much water as possible. Keep the spinach aside.

Prepare the Béchamel, starting with the butter that you melt onto a very low setting. Once the butter is almost melted, add the finely chopped garlic and stir quickly for no more than 10 seconds. Add the flour to the pan in one swoop, and whisk altogether, making sure the flour is coated in butter and you obtain a solid yet sticky consistency. I personally prefer using self-raising flour as it gives the Béchamel a more ‘airy’ texture than plain flour would.

Add half the milk to the pan and turn the cooker setting up slightly. Keep whisking the sauce to prevent it from sticking and forming lumps. A couple of minutes later, as the sauce thickens and starts bubbling up, add the remaining milk and carry on whisking until the preparation bubbles up yet again.

Season to taste and add the drained spinach, stirring with a wooden spoon and making sure the spinach is evenly distributed. Serve immediately. Alternatively, finish off under the grill.