Espinacas a la Catalana, Catalan Spinach
Espinacas a la catalana is one of Catalonia's oldest vegetable dishes, a plate of wilted spinach studded with raisins and pine nuts that shows up on tapas bars and Sunday tables alike. The pairing of sweet dried fruit and toasted nuts with garlicky greens is medieval, older than the tomato and older than the potato in Spanish cooking. Toasting the almonds and plumping the raisins are the two steps that matter, since they do the work that oil and salt would in a lesser version. Almonds stand in for the traditional pine nuts at a tenth of the price. It cooks in the time it takes the spinach to wilt.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Spinach, washed
- 1/3 cup Raisins
- 1/4 cup Almonds, slivered or roughly chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp Sherry vinegar
- 1 pinch Nutmeg, grated
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, ground
Method
- Soak the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes until they plump. Dry raisins stay chewy and pull moisture from the pan; plumped, they burst sweet against the greens and stand in for any sugar.
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium heat until golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes, then tip them out. Raw almonds taste of little here; toasted, they carry the whole dish. Pine nuts are traditional, but almonds cost a fraction and do the same job.
- In the same pan, warm the sliced garlic with a splash of water until it softens and smells sweet, about a minute, without letting it color. Browned garlic turns bitter and would fight the sweetness you are building.
- Add the spinach by the handful, turning it as it wilts and adding more as room appears. Spinach collapses to a quarter of its volume, so a pan that looks overfull is exactly right.
- Off the heat, fold in the drained raisins, toasted almonds, sherry vinegar, a grating of nutmeg, and the pepper. The vinegar lifts the sweetness so the plate reads balanced rather than candied, the trick behind a spinach that has fed Barcelona for centuries.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 140 calories, 5 g protein, 5 g fiber, 85 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
