Fire Day Friday: Torta de Espinacas

Don’t you hate it when you are doing a main dish from a certain country and then you are stuck trying to come up with complimentary side dishes?
Tonight I was trying out Lomo Al Trapo, a popular Colombian beef dish. When I needed to find side dishes, I knew right where I was going….to Erica’s blog My Colombian Recipes. Erica lives in the states now but is from Medellin, Colombia and posts recipes inspired by her homeland. Tonight Alexis made Erica’s Torta de Espinacas (Spinach Cake) on the Big Green Egg.


Torta de Espinacas (Spinach Cake)
Source: My Colombian Recipes
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
11/4 cups milk
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch nutmeg
1 garlic clove
8 oz frozen spinach, thawed
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespons parmesan cheese
Directions
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk often until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add the milk gradually and continue whisking often until the sauce is smooth and thick, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Place the spinach and garlic in a blender and add the white sauce(bechamel sauce). Blend until smooth.
Place the spinach mixture in a plastic container and add the eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a small bowl, mix the parmesan and bread crumbs.
Pour the spinach mixture in a baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and parmesan mixture.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until the cake is done.

We only did a few things differently. First, we used about twice as much bread crumb/cheese mixture on top. Second, we did ours on a 375f grill set up for indirect heat for the 35 minutes.

This recipe fits perfectly inside a Weber Small Drip Pan (6″ x 9″, come ten to a pack). Don’t be alarmed if it poofs up a bit like a souffle, it will fall back down.

We found that this recipe converted to the grill very well and will definitely make it again. It would also be good in the oven but I think the fire roasting adds a little something. Besides, you know we like playing with fire!
So Labor Day is coming up. Is that the end of the grilling season for you or are you just getting started?
Martha (MM)

This looks wonderful, definitely going on my list to try!

You know how it is in Florida, summer is probably the worst grilling season for us – too hot and too many late afternoon and evening thunderstorms. The rest of the year is our perfect grilling time 🙂

julie

Cheese spinach and butter? What’s not to like about that? We will definitely be grilling for a few more months here, but it will gradually slow down because I am a huge lover of my oven.

Have a great weekend!