Spinach or špenát is commonly used in Czech cuisine. Here is a traditional recipe for a spinach main course.
Spinach is a green commonly cultivated in the Czech gardens and thus also commonly consumed. Although recently, it has found its way onto the Czech tables also as a part of salads, it’s still rather found in cooked state.
It is not only a popular filling for the Stuffed Potato Dumplings but especially as a main course called simply špenát (spinach) served with boiled potatoes and hardboiled egg or pork or beef meat. You will also find that many Czechs eat this dish on Green Thursday, sometimes accompanied with green beer!
You will need:
(serves 4)
- spinach – if you’re using fresh leaves, you should have between 200 and 250 grams of boiled spinach per person
- 1 large onion
- 4 eggs
- 4 large potatos
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp of fine flour
- some oil
- optional: a little heavy cream or full-fat milk
Spinach Recipe
Boil potatoes without peeling them, let them cool down, then peel them. If you don’t have enough time, you can peel them before boiling them, although the taste isn’t the same. Boil and peel the eggs.
If you’re using fresh leaves, boil the leaves for 5 minutes, take it out and let it dry until you can chop it very finely. Reserve some of the water from boiling the leaves.
Peel the onion and chop it finely. Fry it to the point just before it starts turning golden, then add the spinach, salt to taste and continue cooking over low temperature.
Now, prepare the roux. Put a little oil on a pan and heat it up. Stir in 1 tbsp of fine flour and fry it a little. Then add some water (reserved water) to make the roux smooth. Add the roux to the spinach and stir well. It should thicken. Optionally, you can add a little bit of milk or heavy cream to make the mixture creamy. In my opinion, both versions are worth trying.
Turn off the stove, crush the garlic and mix it in the spinach while still hot. You can add less or more garlic to your taste.
Serve each portion of spinach with a hardboiled egg cut in half and boiled potatoes.
