The 1 Barefoot Contessa Recipe Ina Garten Calls a ‘Great Make-Ahead Dish’
Try out a Barefoot Contessa make-ahead recipe with Ina Garten’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini. The unofficial queen of making meals in advance — the celebrity chef has an entire cookbook on the subject — considers this creamy, vegetable-packed creation to be a great make-ahead dish.
Ina Garten’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini can be made completely in advance
This isn’t like some Barefoot Contessa make-ahead recipes where only certain elements can be prepared in advance. All — yes, every last bit — of Garten’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini can be made ahead of time.
For that reason, according to the Food Network star, it makes for the ideal make-ahead dish. “This is a great make-ahead dish. You can put the whole thing together in advance and just throw it in the oven before dinner,” Garten once said on Barefoot Contessa.
Originally featured in 2018’s Cook Like a Pro, according to Food Network, Garten’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini couldn’t be more of a quintessential Barefoot Contessa dish. Not only is it simple like almost every Garten recipe, but the ingredient list is also relatively short. And, of course, it can be made in advance. All three hallmarks of Barefoot Contessa recipes and key elements to having one of Garten’s signature “How easy is that?” moments.
The Barefoot Contessa’s tips for making Baked Spinach and Zucchini
The Modern Comfort Food author has a few tips for making this Barefoot Contessa recipe. It all starts with the zucchini. Garten advises against just grabbing any zucchini from the grocery store. “You don’t want big, thick zucchini because they get kind of woody in the middle,” she said, noting that smaller zucchini are “really tender.”
Another Barefoot Contessa cooking tip when it comes to Baked Spinach and Zucchini is to watch the garlic. “I never cook garlic for more than one minute otherwise it gets that burnt flavor,” Garten explained.
Finally, the other star of the dish; spinach. In this case, Garten uses frozen spinach because “it is so much easier” than fresh. “There are very few vegetables that are better frozen but this is one of them,” she added. As for her tip, Garten advises against draining all of the water once the spinach has been defrosted. “You don’t want all of the water pressed out because otherwise, it gets really dry.”
Reviewers love the Food Network star’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini
This Barefoot Contessa make-ahead dish is a winner, according to those who have made it at home. At the time of writing, Garten’s Baked Spinach and Zucchini averages five stars on Food Network’s website.
“I made it exactly as is and I will be making it again,” one reviewer wrote before adding it’s also “great for a meatless main.” Another reviewer confessed that while it may not look like much it’s a “surprisingly good” dish. One reviewer even went so far as to call it “one of the best zucchini recipes ever” that also “tastes great reheated.”Additional comments ranged from “unbelievably delicious” and kid-approved to “something different for a veggie at dinner.”
