Tell me: are mashed vegetables not very irresistible? Golden in the oven to form a super inviting crunchy crust? Here, unfortunately, however, the classic mashed vegetables are a calorie bomb: therefore, we eat vegetables, but together with them we also swallow exaggerated quantities of fat without realizing it. But do you think it is possible to keep the taste of this delicacy while minimizing calories? Of course yes. And for this reason, today I suggest the light mashed spinach, prepared with a delicious totally butter-free bechamel, also suitable for our vegan and celiac friends.
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Identity Card of the Recipe
- 146 KCal Calories per serving
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Ingrediants
For the spinach
- 400 g of spinach
- 1 tablespoon (10 ml) of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of pepper
To gild
- 50 g of tofu
For the light béchamel
- 50 g of tofu
- 1 pinch of pepper
- 1 grated nutmeg
- 2 g of salt
- 25 g of rice flour
- 280 ml of soy milk
Materials Needed
- Pot for steaming spinach
- Crescent or spinach knife
- Pan to season the spinach
- Oven dish
- Round pasta bowl
- Tofu chopper
- Saucepan for the bechamel
- Glass to melt the rice flour
- Whip
Preparation
- Steam the cleaned and washed spinach until wilted. So cut them with the crescent or with a knife.
- Pour the spinach into a pan and sauté them with a tablespoon of oil, a little salt and a pinch of pepper: in this way, the spinach is enriched with flavor.
- In the meantime, chop the tofu in a food processor: one part will be subsequently added to the light béchamel, while the remaining part will be sprinkled over the spinach morsels.
Why use tofu?
We are preparing a dish for vegan food. Therefore tofu (soy cheese) represents in this case an excellent alternative to parmesan cheese. The tofu inside the béchamel will melt during cooking, while the one we pour on the surface will give crunchiness to the dish.- Prepare the light béchamel with the soy milk: in a saucepan, boil a part of the soy milk with a little nutmeg, salt and (if you wish) a little pepper. Pour the remaining soy milk into a glass and dissolve the rice flour with the whisk.
And the butter?
This light béchamel is prepared without the addition of fat (neither butter nor margarine!). The result is still excellent: the rice flour will give a velvety touch to the sauce.- When the soy milk boils, add the diluted rice flour and half (50 g) grated tofu: the béchamel is ready.
- At this point, the spinach will also be perfectly flavored.
- Prepare a baking sheet and a round pastry bowl. Place the pasta bowl in the pan and fill it halfway with the spinach. Gently remove the pasta bowl and proceed in this way until all the vegetables are used up.
- Pour a tablespoon of soy béchamel over each spinach medallion. Finally, sprinkle with the remaining grated tofu.
- Bake at 180 ° C for 20 minutes. Serve the spinach hot.
Alice's comment - PersonalCooker
Nobody will be able to resist these delicacies! I have proposed a typically vegan recipe, that is, prepared exclusively with plant products. In any case, you can adapt it to your needs: if you are not particularly fond of tofu (and clearly don't follow a vegan diet) you can replace the tofu with parmesan cheese: the result will still be excellent!Nutritional values and Health Comment on the recipe
Spinach with light béchamel is an alternative gratin side dish without ingredients of animal origin. The advantage is certainly constituted by the absence of cholesterol and the very low content of saturated fats but, on the other hand, it is necessary to give up the taste of cheese. Spinach with light béchamel should NOT be considered a trivial side dish, but a real VEGAN dish, a characteristic well supported by the abundant protein fraction and of medium-high biological value (typical of tofu).