The Best Spinach Gratin Ever PLUS How to Eat Greens like an Italian
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you approach greens in one of three ways…
You love and are obsessed with getting greens in every day - be it sautéd in scrambled eggs, spinach added to a morning smoothie or a powdered greens blend where you add water to the powdery mix, plug your nose, and chug.
You despise them because they’re a plant food and you don’t do plants because they contain anti-nutrients and aren’t always in season…(I will debunk this absurd myth throughout this post).
You’re Italian and therefore eating greens is part of your DNA. As a result, you eat greens at every meal either consumed as an antipasto (appetizer) or served with your first or second course. BTW Italians eat dinner in 4 courses - appetizer (antipasto), come primo (first course), come secondo (second course), and come dulce (dessert).
Personally, I’m a big fan of greens. Maybe it’s because I’m Italian or maybe it’s because I feel good when I eat greens or maybe, just maybe it’s because when you cook them just right - a little bit of cream, a lot a bit of cheese, a skosh of nutmeg and heaps of butter - they taste out of this world.
For those of you who don’t believe in greens - you think they’re chock-full of anti-nutrients and should only be consumed in springtime when the grass starts to grow after a long winter’s nap…well, I will say that I too have been there. I have been a prisoner of this dogmatic food trap.
And, I will admit that when I escaped this prison more joy, pleasure, deliciousness, nutrients, and regularity returned to my life and my gut.
Do greens contain anti-nutrients? Well, it depends — some of them do and some of them don’t. However, before drawing any conclusions first it’s important to understand why a plant would contain anti-nutrients in the first place…And, then we can work with this act of nature to obtain nourishment from greens and other plant foods.
Anti-nutrients are molecules that many plants naturally create as a self-defense mechanism against pathogens and even to prevent invasion from pests, worms, and other natural invaders. When humans consume foods that contain anti-nutrients they block the absorption of important minerals such as iron, magnesium, and calcium in the gut.
Some greens, but not all, contain anti-nutrients such as phytic acid and oxalic acid. However, when greens containing these anti-nutrients are cooked properly or when they’re eaten alongside certain foods, such as calcium-rich foods, vinegar, or foods rich in fat-soluble nutrients, their anit-nutrient content is antidoted.
If you’ve been avoiding greens because of their anti-nutrient content, I invite you to try eating greens like an Italian and not like a vegan. This almost always works in favor of human health.
How to Eat Greens Like an Italian
(even if you’re not Italian as I’m quite certain your ancestors also cooked and prepared greens similarly)
1. Add Cheese, Milk, or Cream to your Greens.
There’s a reason why Italians eat more dairy than most think appropriate for the human heart and arteries (even though we know this is a total dietary scam—blaming clogged arteries on animal foods is so 1990s). And, I’m going to guess that most Italians likely have no idea why many of their traditional recipes call for heaps of cheese, cups of cream, or piles of crème fraîche other than it tastes freaking incredible which in my opinion is more than a good enough reason to pile on the full-fat dairy.
By adding calcium-rich foods to greens such as cream, milk, or cheese the calcium in these foods acts as a binder to anti-nutrients. Meaning, when you add cheese, double cream, and ricotta to your greens, you freaking win—you get to have your cake and eat it too. And, although I’m Italian, I was completely oblivious to this connection until I studied nutrition in college. When absorbable forms of calcium are eaten alongside greens (and other plant foods that contain anti-nutrients such as nightshade vegetables) the calcium binds to anti-nutrients in the gut negating their harmful effects.
2. Vinegar is your Best Friend.
Italians are obsessed with vinegar. Many Italian households have their pantry shelves lined with various bottles of vinegar - balsamic, vinegar with fruit and herbs, vinegar with garlic and lemons - the combinations of vinegar are endless. Here’s the thing…while Italians love their greens they never use what we Americans consider traditional salad dressing on their greens or salad. Instead, they use vinegar! And, often the vinegar has been traditionally prepared meaning it has been steeped in herbs or fruit or citrus rind for days to weeks to years. These traditional vinegars are what Italians smother on their greens, particularly salad greens.
Of course, vinegar prepared with such care and using fresh, wholesome ingredients is a gastronomic delight! But there’s some nutritional basis here. When vinegar is added to greens it activates specific enzymes in the gut that deactivate anti-nutrients contained in greens including that little devil, phytic acid. By adding vinegar to your greens you also improve the bioavailability of nutrients making greens a much healthier and more digestible food.
3. Oxalates aren’t Entirely Bad.
Hear me out on this one because oxalates aren’t as bad as we make them out to be. First, oxalates are an anti-nutrient found in some plant foods such as beet greens, spinach, and swiss chard (admittedly, I ate so much swiss chard as a kid that I cannot stand it to this day). A visit to your naturopath or renal doc, a quick Google Search on “high oxalate foods” or a podcast hosted by a paleo nutritionist will quickly lead you to believe that oxalates are a satanic substance, that they should be avoided and are the cause of every disease of aging including your gouty toe, inflamed bladder, and rheumatic joints.
For the love of baby Jesus please make it stop.
Here’s one main reason why some people have an inflammatory response to foods containing oxalates (and what you can do about it)…
Antibiotics.
The gut microbiome is home to a multitude of beneficial microbes. While there are millions upon millions of different microbes in your gut, one class of beneficial gut microbes is known as, Oxalobactor formigenes. These bacteria feed off of dietary oxalates. Meaning, that they need oxalates which are mainly contained in plant foods, to live. If oxalates are removed from the diet these ancestral bacterial strains die off. Just like your sourdough starter, if you don’t feed the mother culture, it will weaken and eventually die. If you’ve taken too many antibiotics you’ve likely killed off these strains. When the gut is deficient in these ancestral strains of bacteria, your body is quite likely to elicit an immune and inflammatory response when oxalate-containing foods are consumed.
Rectifying this situation doesn’t entail avoiding oxalates. But should involve a dietary, homeopathic, and lifestyle plan to help rebuild the gut flora. And preparing your greens as I’ve outlined in this post should be incredibly helpful to rekindling your relationship and digestibility of plant foods, particularly leafy greens.
Let’s Get to the Gratin…
My Spinach Gratin recipe is my absolute favorite way to eat spinach, particularly in the winter.
This dish is wholesome, it’s beyond nourishing, and is teeming with nutrients that will keep you warm and energized during the cold winter months.
Not to mention…the taste is freaking epic.
CHEF’S TIP
I highly recommend using frozen spinach for this recipe. However, fresh will work just fine. If using fresh spinach, your sauté time will decrease from 20 minutes to about 7-10 minutes. This may sound like a time-saving win however, I’ve found that the thickness and flavor of this gratin are much better when using frozen spinach.
Also, I cannot encourage you enough to use whole nutmeg vs pre-ground nutmeg and grate it into the dish. The flavor will be much more rich and potent.
Lastly, if you don’t have crème fraîche you can substitute heavy cream or double cream in this recipe.
I sense that your freezer will forever have plenty of organic spinach stuffed to the brim after you try this recipe. Sorry, not sorry.
I promise you will enjoy every bite of this spinach gratin. And, you can take this dish to the next level by topping it with crispy pancetta before serving.
Get Heathar’s Spinach Gratin recipe on her Eat Heal Farm substack post, The BEST Spinach Gratin EVER.
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