Baked Vegetable Florentine

Give a break to Indian cuisine once in a while and try something different.  The recipe given below is a wholesome and nutritious one meal dinner.  Spinach, mushrooms and corn are mixed with a creamy white sauce, topped with grated cheese and baked to perfection.

Ingredients: 

2 cups blanched and chopped spinach
2 tbsps butter
8 shallots, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic
12 button mushrooms, quartered
1 cup corn, boiled
1 cup white sauce
4 tbsps fresh cream
Pinch of nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste
4 tbsp cheese, grated

Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Heat butter in a  non stick or heavy bottom pan.  Add the shallots and saute till they turn pink.  Add chopped garlic and saute.  Add mushrooms, corn and spinach. Saute for a minute. Take off the flame.  Add white sauce and mix well.  Add fresh cream, nutmeg powder, pepper and salt to taste.  Put the spinach mixture in an oven dish and layer it with grated cheese.  Dot with butter. Gratinate in the preheated oven till golden crust forms.  Serve hot.

You can use one onion, cut in big pieces, instead of shallots. Instead of cream you can add little milk.

Note: To make white sauce melt 1 tbsp butter and add 1 tbsp flour. Fry for just a minute so that raw flavour of flour goes away. Do not brown the flour.   Add 1 cup milk slowly and keep stirring till it thickens into sauce like consistency. If you put cold milk into the flour lumps can form so either use warm milk or let flour rest for a bit before adding milk. In case you do end up with some lumps dont lose heart.  Just sieve the mixture and use.