Holiday party time is approaching and these Spinach Balls would make a festive and flavorful addition to your menu. These savory bites have appeared at our annual party by means of my sweet neighbor, Pat! She was gracious enough to share her recipe which came from a cookbook published by members of her church, Trinity UMC.
Basically, the result of all of your prep work is shown below. The frozen spinach was defrosted in the microwave, breaking it apart two to three times during the process. Once that portion is complete, cook the spinach in the microwave for 2 minutes. Place spinach in strainer and press out water from spinach. One way to accomplish this is to place paper towels on top while squeezing out the water. Replace them and repeat the process. The towels will inform you when your job is near completion.
Parmesan cheese measures a bit differently from other cheeses probably because it’s a more dense, hard cheese. Buy the cheese wedge and grate it yourself for two reasons: it’s cheaper and the pre-packaged shredded cheese contains additives to prevent it from clumping/molding. In place of Parmesan, I often substitute Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese which is the Italian version of what we know of as Parmesan. Depending on how you grate it, the volume can vary. A scale is helpful; by weight, you will need about 3.5 ounces. If you don’t have a scale, just pack a 1 cup measuring cup as shown below. (This was pre-measured as 3.5 ounces, but it was packed into a measuring cup once grated.)
Crush the stuffing to resemble crumbs in a Ziploc bag using a rolling pin or other kitchen tool before measuring the 2 cups.
The great thing about these Spinach Balls is that they can be prepared days ahead of your party and just pulled out of the freezer to bake. Fabulous ! Once frozen, as seen below, bag 15 balls into three quart-sized freezer bags until ready to bake.
Place the Spinach Balls (frozen) about 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined rimmed-baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes. No party stress here! All the work and clean up has been done and at this point, it’s all about the presentation …and the first long-awaited bite!
Spinach Balls
Ingredients
- 2- 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach
- 2 c herb stuffing-Pepperidge Farm
- 1 c grated Parmesan cheese-2 oz.
- 5 large eggs, beaten
- 3/4 c softened butter
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t pepper
Instructions
- Cook spinach and drain thoroughly. Squeeze out excess water.
- Place stuffing into Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, crush to resemble crumbs. Measure out 2 cups of crushed stuffing.
- Combine softened butter with the spinach using your hands, or other means, until butter is mixed evenly throughout spinach. (~paddle attachment- stand up mixer)
- Mix in 1 cup of crumbs and half cup of Parmesan.
- Add in beaten eggs and thoroughly combine.
- Add in the remainder of the crumbs and Parmesan and mix until all is distributed evenly.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, create mounds. Roll into balls. I made 45 balls from this recipe.
- Place spinach balls onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and freeze until firm. Transfer to Ziploc freezer bags until ready to serve.
- To cook, place desired amount of frozen spinach balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes. Best served warm.
