This Quick Buttery Spinach recipe is a simple yet delicious dish that’s super easy to make. It starts with caramelizing onions, shiitakes and garlic on a pan with oil and butter. Once the vegetables are cooked, we stir in spinach leaves and cook until they wilt. A brief seasoning of salt and pepper, and there you have a fabulous plate that can serve both as a side or a light meal on its own. And, the whole thing takes less than 15 minutes from start to end!
The Flavour Affair:
Spinach + Onions + Garlic + Shiitake + Butter + Salt
This recipe largely relies on caramelizing vegetables, because that’s what brings out their deeper flavours with lots of different nuances. Fried onions are sweet with a hint of burnt, garlic imparts warmth and umami notes, and shiitakes offer an earthy, slightly nutty trail. With so many taste aspects, I let go of other spices (which is very untypical for me :-D)) to allow the natural flavours to shine. There is also a great mix of textures: creamy spinach and garlic, juicy mushrooms, crunchy onions.
Spinach: I like to use fresh spinach leaves for this kind of dishes. They only need a couple of minutes on the pan to let the water out while remaining plump and meaty.
Onions: red onions are best because they cook quickly and soon develop those delicious caramelized edges with a yummy crunch.
Garlic: we need 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic.
Shiitakes: fresh, caps only.
Butter: adds a luscious silky finish to the vegetables and enhances their flavours.
Salt: adds taste and helps balance the sweetness of the other ingredients.
Preparation Tips for Quick Buttery Spinach with Onions, Garlic and Shiitake:
- Do not use pure butter for frying the vegetables. Frying is done over high heat, and butter has a low burning point, which makes it turn brown and burnt very quickly. Instead, use a mix of butter and oil. Alternatively, just use oil for sautéing and stir in a knob of butter in the very end.
- Slice onions into thick-ish circles, about 0.5cm each. This way the edges will caramelize while the middle stays a bit meatier. It will also prevent them from burning.
- Peel garlic cloves and lightly squeeze them to break apart. Extract the stalk from the middle – it has a high concentration of that very sharp ‘garlicky’ flavour. Don’t chop the cloves any further: they will still produce the taste and aroma, but won’t burn and will offer a pleasant creaminess on the bite.
- Wash the shiitake caps thoroughly to get rid of dirt and squeeze the extra water out. That will help them cook faster. Season very lightly with salt.
- Once the ingredients are ready, heat oil to medium-high, add onions and cook until they start to darken. Add garlic cloves and mushrooms and continue frying until the onions caramelize on the edges and become translucent in the center. If you haven’t added butter to the oil, stir in half a table spoon now.
- As soon as the vegetables are done, stir in the spinach. Keep stirring until all leaves wilt and remove from the heat immediately. This is key to achieving a mild taste (without any bitterness), juicy texture and a vibrant colour:
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Season with more salt to taste and finish off with a couple of grinds of black pepper mill.
Serving Suggestions:
You can easily enjoy this dish as a light meal on its own. If you want something more substantial, try scooping it over a piece of grilled sourdough and top with a fried egg – yummmmm! It also makes a fabulous side to many fish, meat or poultry dishes, and is absolutely amazing with vegetable patties or potatoes in any shape or form.
Make sure to also check out my Creamy Spinach with Nutmeg and Ginger recipe – completely different, equally delicious!
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Quick Buttery Spinach with Onions, Garlic and Shiitake
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 red onions sliced into about 0.5 cm circles
- 4-6 garlic cloves bruised, core removed
- 6-8 shiitake mushrooms caps only, sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 350 g fresh spinach leaves
- 20 g butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp cooking oil for frying
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the spinach and remove any long stems.
- Season the sliced shiitake caps with 1/4 tsp of salt.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp cooking oil to medium-high.
- Add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes until they start to darken.
- Add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to fry, stirring often, until the onions are caramelized on the edges.
- Stir in 20g butter and spinach.
- Keep stirring until all leaves wilt and immediately remove from the heat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.
Notes
- Instead of stirring in the butter in the end, you can fry onions, garlic and shiitakes in a mix of oil and butter.
