Spinach Parmesan Balls

I make fresh spinach all the time, so I'll try them with that. I may even have a box of stuffing mix in the cupboard...

This sounds tasty and healthy both. Squeezing the moisture out of spinach is a pain, but I usually just wash my hands well and grab handfuls of it once it cools enough.

Thanks for the recipe.

Maryn, copying and pasting

Okay, I made these Saturday, and took pictures which I have yet to get off the camera. I jotted down specifics of what worked great and what I could have done better.

I started with 0.6 pounds of fresh baby spinach. I added about 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to a large saute pan, let it heat on medium, added the spinach (which filled my large skillet to the brim), covered the pan, and reduced the heat to low. I checked at five minutes, stirred it some, and it was fully wilted at about eight minutes. I let it sit in the pan to cool.

While that was happening, I measured the stuffing mix into a large bowl. I was at two cups and saw I'd used most of the package, so I dumped it all in. I'd say it was probably 2 and 3/4 c. total.

I bought shredded Parmesan just for this purpose, since I usually only have fat-free grated "fake" Parmesan in the house. I plopped a half cup into the bowl with my stuffing mix. (Fat-free products often react differently, not melting at the temperature you expect, so I try not to use them the first time I try a recipe.)

I used 1/2 of a large mild Mayan onion. Here I made my biggest mistake, not chopping it finely enough. Yes, the recipe says "minced," but no-o-o, I just chopped it. It wasn't a fatal error, but it would have been better with smaller pieces.

I beat four eggs, since that's all I had in the house. I figured the extra stuffing mix justified using more than the three Alpha Echo used. Into the bowl.

I prepared the cookie sheet, which I covered with foil and sprayed with Pam.

By now the wilted spinach was cool enough to handle, so I washed my hands and picked it up by small handfuls, squeezed each one over the sink, and put it on my cutting board. When I had all the spinach there, I ran a sharp knife over it, cutting it into smaller pieces. Then I placed a second cutting board over it and pressed, hard, squeezing out quite a bit more liquid into the sink. I added it to the bowl.

I had one partial stick of butter in the house, 6 Tablespoons, so that's how much I melted and added. I stirred everything up, dusted it with sea salt, garlic powder, and some pepper, stirred again.

Time to preheat the oven.

How big to make the balls? I couldn't tell, so I divvied the bowl's contents into fourths and tried to make nine balls out of each. The sides caved in at some point, and I ended up making 32 balls each about the size of a golf ball.

The kitchen, then the whole downstairs, started smelling wonderful at ten minutes. At twenty, we each tasted on and agreed they could use a bit more time to bake the center more firm. Ate two more at 25 minutes. They baked a total of 30 minutes when the tops were getting a little too browned and we decided they must be done.

Then they disappeared in short order. Total success!

We have agreed that this is also a recipe which could be altered, adding things like chopped sauted mushrooms, sundried tomato, etc.

Maryn, with thanks for the recipe

I used a flavored stuffing mix, my grocery store's brand, chicken. I would think if you just used stuffing crumbs or croutons, there might be insufficient seasoning.

Maryn, suddenly wanting these again