SC - Sweet Potatoes

[Decker, Terry D.]

Sweet Spinach Tart 

A Spinnage Tart.  Take a good store of Spinage, and boyl it in a Pipkin,
with White Wine, till it be soft as pap; then take it and strain it well
into a pewter dish, not leaving any part unstrained; then put to it
Rose-water, great store of Sugar and cinamon, and boyle it till it be thick
as Marmalade.  Then let it coole, and after fill your Coffin and adorn it...

				Gervase Markham
				The English Hous-wife, 1615

1 pound spinach (fresh or frozen) cleaned and chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar (or more)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Boil spinach in wine and 1/2 cup water until very soft.
Press through a colander or run through a food processor to mince large
pieces of spinach.
Combine sugar and 1/2 cup water in a pan  and bring to a boil.
Stir in spinach and cinnamon.
Reduce heat to medium and cook until almost dry.
Put spinach into pie shell.  Cool.

After cooling the tart can be adorned with fruit, powdered sugar, crystal
sugar, etc.  One tester suggested sliced hardboiled eggs.

Notes:  One third cup of sugar sweetens the spinach without being cloying.
A cup of sugar would make a thicker syrup and make the spinach closer to the
marmalade of the original recipe.

One teaspoon of fresh cinnamon provides a nice bite without being
overpowering.

Fresh spinach may require additional water or wine in the first boil.  I
used frozen spinach for availability and speed.  I used Malavasia wine,
which is fairly strong, and cut it with water for expedience.  The spinach
absorbed much of the liquid.