Spanakorizo (Σπανακόρυζο)!
Yesterday ate a lot of meat. (It felt like a whole pig. I mean, it obviously it wasn’t, but I was boared with other meats 🙂 – oh yeah, I just did make that joke). Any day is a good day when you start with bacon!
Regardless of how much I ate, I decided to change-up my diet for today. What a better way to do that than with a dish that uses no meat at all! But that’s plenty about me, let’s talk about spanakorizo.
Spanakorizo
You’re about to find out just how easy spanakorizo is to make! Whether you’re vegetarian or like me and seeking a plate with little or no meat, then you have come to the right place. Let’s get cooking!
Simon says, ‘Run around your kitchen until you find the following ingredients.’
- 400 grams of fresh spinach (cut)
- 1 Large red onion (diced)
- 2 green onions (diced)
- 1 clove of garlic (sliced)
- Fresh Thyme
- 200 grams medium rice
- 1-liter broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
- 1 lemon (juice and zest)
- 100 grams of feta cheese (grated or thinly sliced)
Now to prepare the meal. First, clean spinach and rinse the rice. (I lived with a family from Hong Kong my second year as an undergraduate, and the advised me to rinse my rice. They say that rinsing the rice removes any debris and dirt that sticks to the rice.) Unlike when you make pesto genovese (basil pesto) you don’t need the spinach to have completely dried. Any extra water will evaporate.
Pull out your favorite pot and sauté the onion and garlic. When the onions begin to caramelize, toss in thyme and spinach.
Once the spinach has cooked down, add the rice. Let the spinach and rice sit for a minute before adding the broth. Let the spanakorizo cook until the rice has finished cooking. It will take about 45 minutes to cook. Salt and pepper to taste.
When you are ready to serve, add a little lemon juice, lemon zest, and the feta cheese to the top of your dish.
Advice
I like to experiment with my food (not always science experiments – more on this another day) and so I often toss in another spice or ingredient. Here are a few suggestions I hope you’ll like!
I know some people who prefer to add tomato sauce (passata) to their spanakorizo. If you do (and you follow my recipe), I recommend adding 45 grams ( ¼ cup) of passata (tomato sauce) to the broth.
Others, like the added flavor of boiled, fried, or poached eggs. Try this, once you finish cooking the rice crack in four eggs (one per person) and then cover the pot. Wait five minutes or so until the eggs have cooked!
If you plan on scaling the recipe, the hardest thing to plan (when scaling) is the amount of spinach that you need. So, use about 100 grams of spinach per serving.
And with that, I say adieu.
Happy Cooking Friends!!
