I know that winter is all about soul nourishing hot food, but sometimes I just want a salad to lift my spirits. A warm salad made with new season baby spinach leaves (well, so new season that they were actually grown in Spain where it’s just that much warmer and lighter than here), crispy fried bacon, pine nuts and loads of Parmigiano reggiano. The hot extra virgin olive oil wilts the leaves making the leaves slightly softer to eat.
Grownups will love it (salty bacon and parmesan, so good), but I can’t promise that your little ones will immediately dive in….I found with my two boys that they would pick off the bits they liked and then over time move on to eventually eating the whole salad – well my 5 year old does, my 3 year old is still on his journey of discovery!
Miraculous ingredients: Smoked streaky bacon, pine nuts, baby spinach leaves, Parmigianino Reggiano (Parmesan)
Spinach, smoked bacon, pine nut and parmesan salad
Ingredients
6 rashers of streaky bacon (I like using smoked bacon for more flavour)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
20g pine nuts (a handful)
300g fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly shaved Parmigiano reggiano (parmesan)
Method
Cut the bacon rashers into small pieces (2cm) and fry in a small pan on a medium heat. You don’t need to add any oil to the pan as the bacon will release a lot of fat while it’s cooking.
Once the bacon is crispy, turn the heat to low and add the extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic and pine nuts. Fry for a couple of minutes, but make sure not to burn the garlic or pine nuts.
Place the washed and dried baby spinach leaves on a large dish and pour over the bacon, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil. Shave lots of Parmigiano reggiano over the salad with a potato peeler and serve.
Preparation time 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes, 2 adult portions, 2 child portions