SPINACH

Did anybody tell you that spinach are good for you????!!!
Yes?
Does my message arrive too late???
Oh, well! Getting good, healthy advices is never too much!

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants,
especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.
It is a rich source of vitamin A (and especially high in lutein), vitamin C,
vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2,
calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc,
niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids.
Polyglutamyl folate (vitamin B9 or folic acid) is a vital constituent of cells,
and spinach is a good source of folic acid.
(wikipedia says so)

Do you need more to be convinced!!!!???

So, spinach are good for you and they are delicious, too!
Let's use them in a nice recipe!

CROSTATA SPINACH AND RICOTTA

Ingredients for dough:

250g (1 cup and half) bread flour
1 stick of butter (115 g)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 TBS white wine

On a wooden board mix flour with butter then add salt, egg and wine.
Mix well to obtain a smooth dough.
Put in a bowl, cover with cling paper and let it rest in fridge while
preparing filling.

Ingredients for filling:

250g (half pound) fresh ricotta
1 bunch of fresh spinach
(use only leaves and blanch them, once squeezed you should get almost 2 cups)
1 egg
half tsp nutmeg
half tsp salt
half cup grated parmesan.

Mix all the ingredients well.

With a rolling pin flatten the dough to make a thin pastry.
Cover a round baking tray with the pastry and fill it in with ricotta and
spinach mixture.
With the left over dough cut stripes to put on top of the crostata to form
a grid.
Bake at 400 F (or 200 C) for 40 minutes or till the pastry is golden brown.