Spinach with Pine Nuts and Currants

Amarante

Thu, Sep 03 2020, 12:17 pm

This was an excellent version of a classic preparation for spinach. Joan Nathan, the author, is such a maven on Jewish food history that her cookbooks with their extensive background are fasc8nating even if one doesn’t intend to cook everything. Her recipes are from all the various cultures and countries in which Jews settled.

Recipe is good at room temperature so can be made ahead if you would like.

I like to serve relatively large portions of veggies so this is definitely nit enough for six but recipe is easily scaled up to have more reasonable sized portions.

Notes are hers from the book.

Spinach with Pine Nuts and Currants

Excerpt From: Joan Nathan - King Solomon's Table

I have been making this recipe for years. Onions, pine nuts, and raisins are a sure sign of an early Jewish Italian recipe, possibly prior to the first century, when the first Jews moved to the island of Sicily. There, they must have learned about the superior flavor of nuts from the Italian stone pines that grow near Mount Etna. And who knows? Perhaps this dish was served to the great Rabbi Akiva during his visit to Syracuse in the first century. If so, I am sure that he liked it.

yield: 4 to 6 servings

2 tablespoons currants
1 pound (453 grams) fresh spinach
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1.Cover the currants with hot water to plump them up.

2.Rinse the spinach well and remove the stems. Drain slightly but do not dry the spinach. Put in a large sauté pan and cook over medium heat, stirring until wilted, just a few minutes. Strain well, and set aside.

3.Add the olive oil to the now empty pan, heat, then sauté the onion until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the pine nuts and brown them, then drain the currants and add with the spinach, sautéing briefly to warm the spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.