From Garden to Plate

This week we made spinach balls. We picked all the spinach that we planted in our garden last term.

We worked in 4 groups and we got points for participation, appearance, taste, and tidying up.

The first thing we had to do was read the recipe and get the ingredients and equipment. We mixed everything together in one bowl. Once it was mixed we rolled it into balls and put them on a tray and put them in the oven and waited for 20 minutes.

The hardest part was the eating for some students and waiting for them to cook, but the easiest part was reading the recipe. The most fun part was rolling them into balls.

Finally when the spinach balls were cooked we had a good feast.

We had a lovely day in the kitchen.

By Kakala and Johnny

SPINACH BALLS

• 220 g fresh spinach leaves,, trimmed, washed - about 6 cups. It makes about 160g (2/3 cup) of cooked, squeezed and packed spinach
• 3 eggs, size 6
• 1/2 cup (60g) grated cheese - I used noble cheedar from Mainland
• 1 cup (75g) Gluten Free Panko Crumbs,
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs of your choice - I used coriander

Instructions

1. Trim and wash the fresh spinach leaves.
2. Place the leaves into a saucepan, add salt and cover with boiling water. Cover and set aside for 3 minutes.
3. Rinse the spinach with cold tap water. Drain using your hands to squeeze all the remaining water. You should obtain about 2/3 cup (160g) of packed cooked spinach leaves. If you are using frozen spinach, defrost and measure this quantity.
4. Place on a chop board and finely chop the cooked spinach. Transfer into a mixing bowl.
5. Add eggs, cheese, herbs and panko gluten free crumbs. You can also add salt and pepper if your cheese is not very salty. I did not add salt.
6. Combine with a spoon or your hands, until it forms a batter from which you are able to form balls with your hands or use a small cookie scoop maker to avoid the mess
7. If too moist add slightly more crumb until easy to roll as ball with your hands palms.
8. Place the balls on a non-stick cookie tray covered with baking paper.
9. Bake at 180 c for 15-20 minutes or until golden on the top.
10. Serve immediately or cold in lunchboxes.
11. Serve with dips of your choice like pesto, hummus or homemade ketchup.