The Best Spinach Gratin Recipe Ever - Everyday Dishes (2024)

FAQs

Can you make Ina Garten's spinach gratin ahead of time? ›

This spinach gratin, from her fabulous 2001 “Barefoot Contessa Parties!” cookbook (Clarkson Potter), is perfect for the Thanksgiving table. Make it a day ahead, cover, refrigerate and bake while the turkey is resting. Garten told me she keeps Thanksgiving as traditional as possible.

In contrast, loose spinach needs thorough washing in a colander to remove dirt and grit. Shake the excess water off (if you plan to stir-fry it or eat it raw in a salad, you should pat it dry with kitchen paper, too). Older spinach may have tough stems - cut these off.

It will start to wilt down quite quickly, once it has wilted (about 1-2 mins) drain it through a colander and allow all the excess water to run out, pressing it with the back of a spoon or underside of a ladle will help force excess water out of the spinach through the colander.

Spinach formulated with 20% of lemon juice had the highest total phenol mass fractions. Therefore, the addition of 20% lemon juice can increase the stability of spinach total phenols.

Therefore, although spinach can be eaten raw, it is best to eat cooked spinach. Many nutritionists believe that steaming and boiling is an effective cooking method that can reduce the oxalic acid in spinach by 80% to 90%.

Instead of sauteing spinach leaves in oil or cooking them in water, you can add them to soup or stew near the end of the cooking time. The broth that boils them will capture any nutrients that leech out of the leaves.

Garten recommends letting the gratin sit for 10 minutes before serving it hot. She also notes that the gratin can be cooked a day ahead and reheated at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, a helpful tip if you want to save some time on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Since you can make it a day or two ahead, it's a great pasta for a dinner party where you'll be juggling quite a few things — or a quick but easy dish to delight everyone at a potluck. Garten's dish is so cheesy and comforting, I'll definitely make this pasta for a busy and chilly week in winter.

It is possible to pre-prepare the gratin up to 2 days ahead by simmering the potatoes and transferring them to the buttered baking dish, then refrigerating them until needed. You should cool and refrigerate the mixture as quickly as possible, and within 2 hours of cooking.

These scalloped potatoes can be made ahead. You can assemble the dish and refrigerate for about 8 hours before baking, or you can bake it and refrigerate for about 24 hours before serving.