CREAMY SPINACH PURÉE WITH FRIED EGG

This dish is full of iron, vitamins and protein and is so delicious that you can easily eat a whole plateful. The secret is the garlic and the creamy zasmażka (roux). {Serves 2}

250 g (9 oz) spinach, washed

25 g (1 oz/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon plain (all-purpose) flour

2 generous splashes of milk

1 garlic clove, crushed

salt, to taste

1 egg (per person)

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil and then blanch the spinach for 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly, pressing down on the spinach with the back of a spoon to remove as much water as possible (reserving leftover water for sauce). Chop the spinach to a rough paste.

Melt most of the butter (reserve a little for frying the eggs) in a pan over a medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Gradually add the milk, stirring all the time to make a thick, smooth paste. Add any juices from the blended spinach to the pan, in order to dilute it and make the sauce less gloopy, then remove from the heat.

Mash the crushed garlic with a little bit of salt (this is a special mixture that’s used for many dishes in Poland). Add to the chopped spinach and then tip the spinach mixture into the pan and place over a very low heat. Cook, stirring all the time, for 5 minutes.

Melt the remaining butter in a separate frying pan (skillet) and fry the eggs over a very low heat, covered. The idea is to gently cook the whites while keeping the yolks runny. Season with a little salt and serve the eggs on top of the spinach.

{Time: 20 minutes}