Spinach with Pinenuts and Sultanas
If you’re making baked potatoes to go with the meat, or indeed some boiled new potatoes, tossed in a little pepper, salt and olive oil at the end, and served warm (in other words, have them resting in the oil in the pan as you sit down to soup), then the amount of spinach below will do just fine. Otherwise, I’d double it. That’s not as hard as you’d think as long as you wilt the spinach in batches; indeed I’d be tempted to do so anyway. That’s to say, wash the spinach and then sit it in a large pan just with the water that clings to the leaves after you’ve drained it, and put the pan on the heat, stirring frequently. I tend to buy spinach in 8–10oz bags, and find the easiest way to go is to wilt two bags at a time. Remove each batch to a large sieve and proceed to the next batch. Push down on the wilted spinach to remove any excess liquid then put all that you’re using into a bowl, and proceed as below.
Serves8
CostInexpensive
Total Timeunder 30 minutes
Make Ahead RecipeYes
One Pot MealYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party
Recipe Courseside dish, vegetable
Dietary Considerationvegetarian
Five Ingredients or LessYes
Mealdinner
Taste and Texturesavory, sweet
Type of Dishvegetable
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
- 1 onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup pinenuts
- 2¼ lbs baby spinach, about 32 cups!
- 2 tablespoons white wine
Instructions
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Put the sultanas into a small bowl, pour over some freshly boiled water, and leave them to plump up. Peel the onion and cut into fine half moons. Heat the oil in a large pan that can cope with all the raw spinach later (or wilt first as above), and cook the onion until golden and soft. Toast the pinenuts in a dry pan until they are colored and tip into a bowl to cool.
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Rinse and drain the spinach if you haven’t wilted it already. Add the wine to the golden onions and stir well, then tumble in the spinach, pressing it down in the heat of the pan. Keep stirring to cook the spinach evenly. Let the spinach cook down, so that the water evaporates from the pan as much as possible.
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Drain the sultanas well, and add to the pan along with the toasted pinenuts. Season with salt and pepper and add a little more olive oil if necessary.
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You can do all this in advance of sitting down, then just put a little heat under it while you’re clearing the plates.
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2004 Nigella Lawson
