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Red Spinach. I have saved my favorite for last.

Green Spinach I know you know. But its red veined cousin is an entirely different creature. It is sweet. Almost dessert sweet. It has a honey taste with nutty spinach undertones. It’s quite remarkable.

I’m not going to sit here and try and explain its flavor. It’s too hard for me. Honey and Nuts-- those are my best descriptors. Besides tasting should be a personal experience all your own. I encourage you to have that experience.

Until this week I had never knowingly tried Red Spinach. I have noticed it used in Indian Foods, I have seen it on the menus and may even have had some as an ingredient in a curry or something. I can’t say for sure because until I ate it raw I never really gave it much thought. If you do not know it by the name Red Spinach you may know it by it’s other common names: Malabar Spinach, Ceylon Spinach, Indian Spinach, Vine Spinach, and Malabar Nightshade (Malabar is a coastal region in southwestern India).

I got several encouraging emails about what I should do with my Red Spinach.
Nick over at imafoodblog had several good suggestions (“twist on a classic spinach salad with hot bacon dressing” or “balance it with some citrus” and “salt it with some cured pork!”

His ideas were very closely aligned with where I was going flavor-wise.  But I had eaten so much of it raw that week I knew my recipe would involve cooking.

I finally settled on a grilled cheese sandwich. A goat cheese grilled sandwich, with walnuts and honey and enough salty cured pork in the form of prosciutto to balance the whole thing.

In the attached video you can see how I did it. But I will admit that after having made it for the video I adjusted a few things.

First area of improvement was in texture. If you look closely at the video, you’ll see I did not actually chop the spinach as I suggest in the text. I changed it to chopped spinach after eating a sandwich. It was a little too much like the famous spaghetti scene in Lady and The Tramp when I left the leaves whole. Chopping is a small matter, but a big improvement.

Also, I felt the goat cheese needed a stronger presence. In the video version I used 4 ounces. But in the final recipe I am posting here I upped that by 2 more ounces, for a total of 6.  I am so glad I included a few walnuts left whole too. It added a wonderful crunch that really helped the whole experience.

The last change is minor and really just helps in presentation. In the video I lay the spinach on the bread slices and then top that with the prosciutto slices. I have reversed that order in the final recipe version. Having the layer of meat between the bread and the spinach keeps the bread from getting too soggy too quickly.

But, eat and learn that’s my motto!

SERIOUS FUN FOOD

Greg Henry

SippitySup

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