A bowl of creamed parsley.
Recipes,  Side Dishes

Creamed Parsley

This recipe sounded really interesting to me, so I decided that if my grocery store had enough bunches of parsley, it was a sign that I should try it out. I’m glad I did! It’s different than creamed spinach, and the garlic, ginger, shallot and orange zest really add a nice subtle flavor to the background of this dish. Me, Dino and his dad all really liked it, but his mom wasn’t crazy about it. She thought it was a little too “grassy”. I think you have to really like the flavor of fresh parsley to appreciate this one. The only change I made was to add a few more spoons of crème fraîche and some more cream at the end, because it wasn’t really coating it well enough. This is a really interesting meal accompaniment!

A bowl of creamed parsley.
Creamed Parsley
Gourmet September 2008

yield: Makes 4 servings
active time: 40 min
total time: 45 min

In this unusual side dish from Spring restaurant, often under appreciated parsley gets the creamed-spinach treatment—and a little help from aromatic orange zest, mint, and fresh ginger.

12 cups packed flat-leaf parsley sprigs (2- to 3-inch sprigs from about six 2-ounces bunches), tough stems discarded
1/2 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon salted butter
1 unpeeled small garlic clove, lightly smashed
5 thin slices peeled ginger (from a 1/2-inch-diameter piece)
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
2 (3-inch-long) strips of orange zest
1 mint sprig

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Preparation

Blanch parsley in a large pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) 20 seconds. Transfer parsley to an ice bath to stop cooking. Spin dry and blot with paper towels.

Cook shallot in butter with garlic and ginger in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add cream, crème fraîche, and orange zest to skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes. Add mint and remove from heat. Let stand, uncovered, 2 minutes. Discard garlic, ginger, zest, and mint.

Return sauce to a simmer and add parsley, separating gently with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, tossing gently, until just heated through, about 2 minutes.

MacGourmet Rating: 4 Stars

Ashley Covelli is a food photographer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor based in Ossining, New York. She loves helping people become enthusiastic and adventurous in the kitchen so that they can build skills and confidence to cook for themselves and their loved ones. She can almost always be found with at least 3 different beverages within arm's reach.

One Comment

  • Katy ~

    I was reading in one of my juicing books that parsley is like one of those little known power foods, so this recipe holds a lot of appeal to me. I’m going to have to give this a try as I do like parsley cooked IN foods, just never thought of it as a cooked food. I think you may start a parsley rush across the nation with this one!

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