Creamy Parmesan Spinach

Week 313. Spring 2022. I am 39 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

The garden is just planted, full of promise, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.

Mason is 11 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.

Lily is 9 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made spinach and feta frittata this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

Spinach has been on my stove more times than I can count this spring — sometimes tucked into a frittata, sometimes simply on its own, creamy and warm and asking nothing of me except a few minutes and a wooden spoon. This creamy parmesan spinach is the version I keep coming back to: it’s the kind of dish that doesn’t announce itself, it just shows up, quietly holding the meal together the way the best things in life do. If the food is the thread, this is one of the stitches.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz fresh baby spinach (or two 5 oz bags)
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

Sauté the garlic. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute until fragrant but not browned.
Wilt the spinach. Add the fresh spinach to the skillet in large handfuls, turning with tongs and allowing each addition to wilt before adding more. Cook for 2–3 minutes total until all spinach is wilted and any excess moisture has cooked off.
Build the cream sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the cream cheese cubes and heavy cream to the skillet. Stir continuously until the cream cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth, about 2–3 minutes.
Add the parmesan. Stir in the grated parmesan, black pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Continue stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce coats the spinach evenly.
Taste and serve. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer to a serving dish and top with an extra sprinkle of parmesan. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Creamy Parmesan Spinach — The Food That Connects Every Version of Me