Spinach and egg gratin
About spinach and egg gratin
“Spinach and egg gratin” is a gratin with spinach, whole boiled eggs, white sauce (Bechamel sauce), and cheese. Although you can add more ingredients, I prefer to keep the ingredients simple and enjoy the deliciousness of the smooth creamy white sauce which you can easily make.
I like spinach and use it for various dishes, and I make this gratin when it gets cold. Creamy gratin is a perfect dish for the winter, it’s tasty and a comfort food. In fact it’s quite easy to make, just boil spinach and eggs, make white sauce, and bake in a baking dish to finish. Since it contains boiled eggs, it is voluminous, and you can have a satisfying meal just by serving with crusty bread. I put the link to an article about white sauce (Bechamel sauce), so please read it if you like.
Recipe tips
Boiled eggs
At my home, I usually cook two boiled eggs per person. However, if you have children or someone who eat small amount, you can cook one egg for each of them. Boiled eggs can be hard-boiled or soft-boiled.
Put the eggs in a small pot, add enough water to cover them, and heat them over medium heat. After boiling, boil on low medium heat for about 6 minutes for soft-boiled eggs and 12 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, cool in cold water, and peel.
White sauce
A smooth white sauce with no lumps is an important point for gratin. If you search the Internet for how to make white sauce, you will find a lot. I have been making it for many years and there are two things to pay attention to. Fry the butter and flour well so that this will eliminate the powderiness. After adding milk, when it starts to harden, stir well constantly with a whisk to make it smooth. Then I think you can make it well.
Spinach and egg gratin
Equipment
- 1 Oven dish (2L capacity)
Ingredients
- 600 gram Fresh spinach
- 6~8 Eggs
- 50 gram Butter
- 50 gram All-purpose flour
- 450~500 ml Whole milk
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- a pinch of Pepper
- a pinch of Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- 60~70 gram Shredded cheese for pizza
- Appropriate amount of Butter for oven dish
Instructions
- Preparation : wash the spinach and drain the water. Boil plenty of hot water and put spinach in boiling water, submerge the spinach and boil for about 1 minute. Immediately soak in cold water after boiling. When it cools, transfer it to a cutting board and cut it into 2~3 cm width. Then squeeze the spinach to drain excess water and set aside. (if you don’t cook gratin immediately, keep it in the fridge until required).
- Make boiled eggs: put the eggs in a small saucepan, add enough water to cover it, and heat it over medium heat. After boiling, boil on low medium heat for about 6 minutes for soft-boiled egg and about 12 minutes for hard-boiled egg, cool in cold water, and peel.
- Preheat the oven to 200C =392F degrees. Butter the oven dish.
- Making white sauce: put butter in a pan and heat over low medium heat to melt it without burning. When the butter is completely melted, sprinkle in the flour. Stir fry slowly over low heat, mixing constantly with a spatula until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
- Gradually stir in one-third of the milk. Stir constantly with a whisk over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir until smooth and thickened. Repeat this process till all the milk is added. When all the milk is added bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 5 minutes and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Add 1/2 amount of cheese to the white sauce and mix to dissolve.
- Put spinach in a bowl, add 1/2 of the sauce and entangle the sauce.
- Place the spinach in an oven dish, spread it evenly, and line up the boiled eggs.
- Sprinkle the remaining white sauce over eggs and spinach, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese. Bake in an oven for 10 to 15 minutes until browned.
Notes
It’s easy to make and delicious, so I hope you will make it. Below I put links to other recipes using spinach. If you like these, please make them as well.
Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!