History spinach and sandwich

They are one of the rare green vegetables so versatile that they can be used in both raw and cooked dishes. They are a vegetable with a very uncertain origin, and it seems that the Persian area is the most accredited. Even on the name the legends thicken: some derive it from the Italian "spinace", originating from the Latin spina for the thorny fruit, others instead from the Arabic "aspanakh" passing through the Spanish "espinaca".

The arrival in Europe is also mysterious, it seems that it was the Arabs or the Crusaders who introduced it around the year 1000. Already at the beginning, this vegetable was recognized as having special virtues. According to al-Arbuli, an Arabic author of the fourteenth century, spinach had the ability to calm the belly and fight coughing. Other scholars of the time attributed to it both invigorating qualities for the gums, as well as laxative and emollients: advising women to wash their uteruses with cooking of vegetables, since due to its astringent effects, it prevented the flow of moods.

Despite the fact that Ibn al-Awwan, the twelfth-century Islamic author of a treatise on agriculture, qualified it as the queen plant of the vegetables for their nutritional virtues, spinach did not enjoy much success among privileged groups. Only the lower classes are able to do so. They were used assiduously in soups and stews.

It is said that Catherine de' Medici, when she left Florence to go in marriage to the future king of France, she also wanted a cook who would be able to cook spinach, one of her vegetables favorite. Since then in the classic French cuisine, the preparations that require a bed of spinach are called "a' la Florentine".

It was only in the nineteenth century that these vegetables became widely consumed, first in Europe and then in America. The intake of spinach is recommended in all low-calorie diets because it contains a lot of vitamin A and C, copper, phosphorus, zinc, calcium, potassium. This composition gives spinach a remineralizing, toning and cardiotonic power. The high presence of folic acid also makes it a useful food to give vitality to the immune system. Probably, it is the 3 milligrams of iron contained in 100 grams of vegetables that have made spinach very popular, even if this iron, in the form of a salt, is only partially retained and used by the body. An icon of the strength given by spinach are the stories of the character of Popeye.

Scientific research recommends, in order to benefit from the healthy properties of this vegetable, to consume raw spinach as a filling for a sandwich or a piadina, seasoned with oil and salt; By boiling them, a good percentage (about 50%) of the elements useful to the body are lost. In addition, if we want our body to assimilate the greatest amount of iron contained in spinach, we must season it with a squeeze of lemon. For gourmets, I recommend a sandwich with sausage, fontina  cheese and spinach.

The chicken, mushroom and spinach sandwiches, forgetting to mention the Fontina cheese that is part of the rich filling, is a super recipe, very tasty and above all not trivial: if you are tired of the usual hamburger or the usual mozzarella and tomato sandwich, try them. In this recipe, it is also interesting the particular technique of baking the buns wrapped in foil in the oven to melt the cheese without problems, and without spills and dirty oven.

INGREDIENTS

1 CIABATTA BUN

200 G. OF FONTINA CHEESE

350 G. OF  MUSHROOMS

3 GARLIC CLOVES, SQUEEZED

400 G. OF COOKED CHICKEN BREAST

150 G OF SMALL AND TENDER SPINACH

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TO TASTE

WHOLE-GRAIN MUSTARD TO TASTE

SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 205 C degrees. Empty the buns slightly, removing some of the crumbs, then sprinkle them with a little oil. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan, add the mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced, and cook for 4 minutes. Add the squeezed garlic and cook for another three minutes. Finally, throw the chicken cut into small pieces and then crumbled into the pan and heat it up and cook for another couple of minutes. Put everything on a plate. Cook the spinach, cleaned and washed, with a tablespoon of oil in the pan for 2 minutes, salt and pepper. Drain the spinach to remove the liquids produced during cooking. Spread a little mustard on the top of the buns and spread half of the thinly sliced Fontina cheese on top, pressing lightly. Spread the chicken and mushroom mixture over the bottom halves of the buns, top with spinach, and top with the remaining cheese. Close the buns and wrap them tightly in aluminum foil. Put the buns in the hot oven for about 20 minutes, to melt the cheese, then enjoy this super and very refined bun immediately.