The thing about spinach is that when I buy it from our local Persian market, the bags are just huge! I steam and sautée it here and there and add to other entrees, but I usually end up wasting some. So my objective in this endeavor was to really make spinach the mainstay of the meal and not just an accompaniment. I found this recipe for Sephardic Spinach Patties on Epicurious and decided to give it a go.

First I cooked the spinach and squeezed it dry. Then I sautéed up the onions and garlic. I added the onion mixture to the spinach and mixed in the matza meal and spices (salt, pepper & nutmeg). I mixed in the egg along with 1/4 c. of freshly grated parmesan and made sure it was the right consistency for patty making. When the consistency seemed right, I heated the oil in a large skillet and dropped the spinach by 1/4 cupfuls into the oil.

I fried the patties for about 4 minutes per side.  They really held together well and browned quite nicely. This can be a problem sometimes with vegetable patties of other sorts, and in my opinion, consistency is king when it comes to any kind of patty making.

I served them up with some sweet potato fries which I love to accompany with a chipotle mayo sauce. I just buy the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and transfer the whole can to a Tupperware. Then, whenever I want chipotle sauce as an accompaniment, I chop up one pepper with a little of its sauce and add it to the mayo just until I get the desired color and spice level.  I also served some cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette along with this meal.  The colors were delightful and it was tasty and well-balanced too.

Sorry I don’t have a full plate photo to share with you, but I think I had a 20 month old hanging on my pant leg when we sat down together to eat.

This recipe adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/