This recipe comes from my aunt’s best friend, Claire-Louise, who used to make these absolutely Every Time she came over to our house. I got so used to them that I had to ask her for the recipe simply because I started to miss them at dinner parties when I moved out on my own! Claire tells me she has been making them since she and my aunt were wild college girls in the 60s, which always makes me think of one of my favorite cook-books of all time, Saucepans and The Single Girl by Jinx Kragen and Judy Perry, from 1965.
I have cooked plenty of things from Saucepans, all fine and dandy, but I actually find it to be an even more valuable guide to life. Who else told young girls to use an ironing board as a dining table if they had none? Who else describes each recipe not by its taste but by its usefulness? Who else pronounced a salad a “terror to prepare”? Amusing and delightful, as is the effect of popping one of Claire-Louise’s spinach balls, warm, into your mouth.
Claire-Louise’s Spinach Balls:
2 pkg chopped spinach, drained (about 1 lb or 16 oz, do not cook)
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
¾ cup butter, melted
¾ cups Parmesan cheese
2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
1 onion, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste
• Mix all ingredients together, then form into small balls.
• Freeze for 10 min or so to hold shape. (NOT overnight, they will freeze solid! Can refrigerate over night.)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 20 min
• Serve warm
