Spanakorizo

13 June 2008

Spanakorizo

Spanakorizo is a great dish to make if your CSA box is overrun with spinach (in our case, due to mild and wet spring). I got this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey‘s World Vegetarian (big surprise, I know! Why do I even bother keeping the rest of my cookbooks?). She writes “For a simple Greek meal, you could serve this dish with some kalamata olives, some goat or sheep’s milk cheese (drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh or dried oregano or thyme), a bean dish, and some crusty bread.” I had Manchego, which is a sheep’s milk cheese, but Spanish instead of Greek. I also threw together a simple bean dish: a can of garbanzos heated with can of chopped tomatoes and green chiles, with some feta added at the end.

The final dish was very tasty and rich, probably from all that olive oil! (Just so you know, it’s much more spinach than rice.) I thought I might have cooked the spinach too long in the first step, because I didn’t have my colander set up ahead of time, but it didn’t ruin the final product. It did seem a bit too salty – or maybe too lemony? Next time I’ll skip the last addition of salt. And I have another giant bag of spinach, maybe I’ll make it again before next Wednesday’s CSA pickup!

Elena Averoff’s Spinach with Rice (Spanakorizo)
p 227 in World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey

1.5 lbs spinach
6 scallions, cut crosswise into fine rings all the way up to the green section
5 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt
3 Tab Italian risotto rice or any medium-grain rice
2 Tab finely chopped fresh dill (I don’t like and didn’t have anyway, so happily left out)
1 Tab fresh lemon juice (or more, if desired) (I squoze the half lemon in my fridge directly into dish, so didn’t measure)

Trim the spinach and separate the leaves. Wash well and drain. Bring 12 cups of water to a rolling boil and drop in the spinach leaves. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they are just wilted. [Although you won’t ruin the dish if you go a bit beyond this.] Drain. Run under cold water and drain in a colander.

Put 2 cups of water in a wide pot and bring to a boil. Put in the scallions, oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and the rice. Cook on med-high heat, stirring now and then, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the rice is just done and the liquid in the pot is reduced to a little thick sauce. [See photo above – mine didn’t really look like a sauce, but I couldn’t see how it was going to get any saucier so I moved on to the next step!]

Put in the spinach and another 1/2 tsp salt. Stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add (the dill and) lemon juice and stir to mix. Serve hot.

Serves 4

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