Spinaziestamppot (Spinach Mash)
Spinaziestamppot
A springtime green mash of wilted spinach folded into buttery potato, lifted with nutmeg and often a hard-boiled egg — lighter and fresher than the winter stamppotten.
IIStamppot & the Mash- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Spinaziestamppot arrives when the heavy winter mashes have worn out their welcome. Spinach is a cool-season crop that flushes green in Dutch market gardens through spring, and a mash built on it feels lighter on the plate — fresher, faster, less a bulwark against the cold than a nod to milder days. It found a firm place in the frugal reconstruction kitchen, where a cheap glut of spinach and a few eggs made a full meatless supper.
The water problem
There is really only one way to fail at this dish, and it is water. Spinach is almost entirely liquid, and it releases every drop the moment it hits heat. Wilt it, then press it in a sieve until it stops weeping and you can chop it into a tight, dark mass. Skip that and no amount of extra potato will save you from a pale green slop. Mash the potato stiffer than you would for other stamppotten, precisely to soak up what moisture remains.
Green, but never grey
Nutmeg is the seasoning that makes spinach Dutch. The two have been paired in these kitchens since the spice ships first made nutmeg common, and a good grate turns a plain green mash fragrant. A little garlic wilted with the leaves is a modern liberty that suits it.
Wring the spinach dry and season it brave — timid nutmeg makes a timid mash.
Top it the traditional way, with quartered hard-boiled eggs sunk into the surface and, if the day asks for it, a scatter of crisp bacon over the green.
“Squeeze the wilted spinach as dry as you can bear before it goes in — the single most common way to ruin this dish is a watery, slumping mash.”
Ingredients
Serves 4
The mash
- 800 gfloury potatoes — peeled, in chunks
- 600 gspinach — fresh, washed
- 1garlic clove — finely chopped, optional
- 150 mlwarm milk
- 40 gbutter — cold
- 1 good pinchgrated nutmeg
To finish
- 3eggs — hard-boiled, quartered
- 100 gsmoked bacon — spekjes, optional
- to tastesalt and pepper
Method
- 1
Boil the potatoes
Cover the potatoes with salted water and boil until fully tender, about 18 minutes. Because spinach adds so much moisture later, keep the potatoes on the drier, floury side and mash them firm.
- 2
Wilt the spinach
Wilt the washed spinach in a dry pan or its own clinging water, adding the garlic for the last minute. It collapses dramatically — 600 g becomes a small handful — so a big pan and a quick turn are all it takes.
- 3
Squeeze out the water
Tip the wilted spinach into a sieve and press hard with the back of a spoon. This step is not optional: unpressed spinach floods the mash and turns it into green soup. Then chop the drained spinach roughly.
- 4
Mash firm
Drain and dry the potatoes and mash with warm milk, cold butter and a generous grate of nutmeg. Keep it stiffer than usual to leave room for the water the spinach still carries.
- 5
Fold and top
Fold the chopped spinach through until evenly green, season well, and fold in the bacon if using. Serve mounded with quartered hard-boiled eggs pressed into the top — the classic spinach-and-egg pairing.
In the kitchen
The tools that make this recipe easier.
- EssentialPotato ricer ↗
The route to lump-free stamppot and mash.
Crowning the mash
Stamppot is a canvas: a well of gravy and something smoked or pickled.
- Rookworst — smoked sausage, sliced into the well
- Jus — a pool of dark gravy in the centre
- Piccalilli or zuur — sharp pickles to cut the richness
- Speklapjes — crisped pork belly for kale stamppot
Questions from the kitchen
Fresh or frozen spinach?+
Both work. Fresh gives a brighter flavour; frozen (thawed and very well squeezed) is genuinely convenient and traditional in many households. Either way, wring out every drop of water.
Why the hard-boiled egg?+
Spinach and egg is an old, natural pairing — the mild richness of the yolk softens spinach's faint mineral edge. It also stretched a meatless meal in thrifty years.
Is nutmeg really necessary?+
It is close to essential here. Nutmeg and spinach are a classic Dutch match, and a good pinch lifts the whole mash from flat to fragrant.
Paint the rest of the meal
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