Spinach and Egg Casserole

It's the season to be Jolly... Fa la la la la, la la la la.....
This festive time of the year brings along lots of joy, holiday music, shopping, gifts, parties, good food and not to forget the endless time spent in the kitchen cooking for the numerous potlucks and parties.
Here is a dish I made for the Christmas potluck over the weekend, bringing together ingredients like spinach, boiled eggs in a rich creamy white sauce that is a blend of Smoked Gouda, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Mozzarella cheese, with a browned cheesy crust and bread crumbs. My husband says it was simply yummy and seemed to be a hot seller at the party. Enjoy!

Ingredients
5 - Boiled Eggs, each cut into 4 wedges
2 - 10oz Box Frozen Spinach or 550gm - Fresh Spinach
1 - Onion, chopped
6 - Garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tsp - Pepper
Salt
Oil

For creamy white sauce
5 Tbsp - All purpose flour
5 Tbsp - Butter
2 1/2 Cup - Milk
1 1/2 Cup - Cheese (Blend of Smoked Gouda, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mozzarella)
1/8 Tsp - Ground Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

Topping
3 Tbsp - Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup - Mozzarella Cheese, grated.

Directions
Cooking the Spinach

• Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and add garlic.Saute for a minute and then add the chopped onions and saute until the onions are translucent.
• Mix in the chopped spinach. If using frozen spinach, thaw spinach and squeeze out the water and then add the spinach.
• Season with pepper and salt and saute until the spinach is cooked and all the water evaporated.
• Remove from heat and keep aside.

Creamy White sauce

• In a separate non-stick sauce-pan, melt butter and add flour and make a Roux.Whisk for 3 minutes on medium-low heat to cook the flour.
• Add milk and whisk continuously until the sauce thickens
• Stir in the grated cheese and mix until the cheese melts
• Add pepper, nutmeg and season with salt

Assembling the casserole

• Arrange the boiled egg wedges on the bottom of the casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper.

• Add the cook spinach mixture over the eggs

• Pour the cream sauce over the spinach mixture and add the grated cheese and bread crumbs on top

• Bake for 30 minutes on 350F and serve hot with your favourite bread

Notes and Tips

• You can add your favorite cheese in the sauce.
• You can increase the cheese in this dish to make the sauce richer, thicker and creamier - YUM!
• Whisk the sauce continuously to avoid lumps.
• You can exclude the boiled eggs and make this dish purely vegetarian.