Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

This is a long due post! About a month ago, I did a Greek cuisine day at home. I like celebrating cuisines, so I try and span the dishes through the day starting from the breakfast. So, on this day, I started my day with the No knead Filmjölk olive bread and black bean hummus. I will post the recipe some day. (I am a lazy bitch ;))

Anyways! for the lunch, I wanted to do something simple as I was expecting some guests for the dinner and I obviously had to focus more on the dinner. But, that doesn’t mean I will compromise on the lunch. More because I had to prepare something for the cuisine of the month going on a group of blogger friends where the host selects a cuisine and we all make one dish from that kitchen. I was the host this month and I decided on Greek as the cuisine of the month. So, here it is, a very humble Greek dish. Simple and from the everyday life of Greek kitchen: Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice. My recipe is inspired by a greek blog that i love, The Greek Vegan.

 

Ingredients for Spanakorizo

• Spinach – 200 gm (frozen, but thawed and drained). You can happily use the fresh one. But you’ll need to saute it until wilted.
• Olive oil – 2 tbsp
• Onion – 1 big (finely chopped)
• Garlic – 1 tbsp (minced)
• Fresh Dill Or fresh chopped mint – 2 tbsp (you can also use a combination of both)
• Oregano – 1 tbsp
• Rice – 250 gm (medium grain)
• Water – 500 ml (approx)
• Salt to taste
• Ground black pepper – 1tsp
• Tomato paste – 4 tbsp

Method for Spanakorizo

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté onions and garlic gently over low heat.
2. Add salt, pepper, oregano and dill or mint. Mix well.
3. Mix the tomato paste in 50 ml of warm water and add to the pan. Give it a gentle stir.
4. Now, add rice and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Slightly lower the heat to avoid rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
5. Next, add spinach and the water to pan, mix well and bring it to a low boil. You may increase the heat a bit.
6. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat to the lowest temperature and let it simmer with the pan lid on.
7. Cook for approximately 30 minutes or until cooked.
8. Garnish with some fresh herbs. I used parsley. Enjoy!!