Looking for a quick and easy brunch dish for the many? a dish with a touch of the ethnic? Here it is! The Armenian favorite, spinach and eggs. To the "American" ear, it does not sound delicious, but to the American palate, it's delicious! Served hot, cold, or at room temperature, this dish is one that folks come back for, a dish Marash Girl always serves for hors d'oeuvres at her Christmas Eve party. Yes, it's that good. And simple. The trick is buying fresh spinach and using freshly shredded parmesan or romano cheese (shred it at home in your Cuisinart). Recently, Marash Girl was shopping for fresh spinach and she found the freshest spinach she has ever found outside of her very own garden. No, it was not at a farmer's market, nor was it at a greengrocer's. Surprising as this may seem, she found spinach so fresh that it still had its roots in a nearby Market Basket (in this case, the Market Basket next to Burlington Mall).
Enough of the palaver. Here's the recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare
1 pound of very fresh spinach, roots removed, washed and drained in a collander.
1 dozen eggs, shells removed (of course) and gently beaten
1 large onion, peeled, chopped, and sauteed
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt or coarse kosher salt
1 tsp. Aintab red pepper (now known as Aleppo red pepper, available in Middle Eastern stores)
1/2 pound parmesan or romano cheese (freshly grated at home in your Cuisinart)
Add drained spinach to the sauteed onion and cook only until wilted. DO NOT OVERCOOK!
Again, drain spinach from any liquid in the bottom of the pot; (save the liquid for your next soup).
Cool the spinach for a few minutes; then add the drained spinach/onion mixture to the already beaten eggs along with the salt, nutmeg, Aintab red pepper, and freshly grated cheese. Stir to blend.
Grease a large stainless steel rectangular roasting/baking pan, pour in egg mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for about 1/2 hour or a bit longer. Eggs will puff up, but then flatten out when removed from oven.
When slightly cooled, eggs may be cut into squares and served in pan while still hot, or if room temperature, may be removed from pan, and squares arranged on serving platter. (This dish may be eaten as finger food, hot, room temperature, or cold straight out of the refrigerator!)
[Some folks say that grated zucchini may be substituted for the spinach, but if you were to use zucchini, you'd have to use very young, very firm zucchini. Marash Girl prefers the traditional use of spinach.]
After you've prepared and tasted this dish, you'll be thanking Marash Girl's mother (Jennie) and grandmother (Yepros), both superb Aintepsi cooks!
Enough of the palaver. Here's the recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare
1 pound of very fresh spinach, roots removed, washed and drained in a collander.
1 dozen eggs, shells removed (of course) and gently beaten
1 large onion, peeled, chopped, and sauteed
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt or coarse kosher salt
1 tsp. Aintab red pepper (now known as Aleppo red pepper, available in Middle Eastern stores)
1/2 pound parmesan or romano cheese (freshly grated at home in your Cuisinart)
Add drained spinach to the sauteed onion and cook only until wilted. DO NOT OVERCOOK!
Again, drain spinach from any liquid in the bottom of the pot; (save the liquid for your next soup).
Cool the spinach for a few minutes; then add the drained spinach/onion mixture to the already beaten eggs along with the salt, nutmeg, Aintab red pepper, and freshly grated cheese. Stir to blend.
Grease a large stainless steel rectangular roasting/baking pan, pour in egg mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for about 1/2 hour or a bit longer. Eggs will puff up, but then flatten out when removed from oven.
When slightly cooled, eggs may be cut into squares and served in pan while still hot, or if room temperature, may be removed from pan, and squares arranged on serving platter. (This dish may be eaten as finger food, hot, room temperature, or cold straight out of the refrigerator!)
[Some folks say that grated zucchini may be substituted for the spinach, but if you were to use zucchini, you'd have to use very young, very firm zucchini. Marash Girl prefers the traditional use of spinach.]
After you've prepared and tasted this dish, you'll be thanking Marash Girl's mother (Jennie) and grandmother (Yepros), both superb Aintepsi cooks!
Looks good! I'll try it sometime.Thanks M.P.
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