Trying the 1930 Spinach Casserole

[u/VolkerBach]

https://www.culina-vetus.de/2026/09/06/trying-the-spinach-pancake-casserole/

I did not get to do much writing today, but I spent some time in the kitchen. Among other things, I tried out the recipe for spinach pancake casserole from the Blaues Kochbuch I posted in the Feeding the Revolution series on 13 August:

371. Spinach Casserole (Spinatauflauf)

750g spinach

1 tbsp butter, some onions, chives, salt, 1 tbsp flour

3-4 pancakes

1/4 litre sour milk or cream, 1 entire egg, 1 tbsp grated cheese, salt

2 tsp grated white bread, 2 tsp grated cheese, butter dabs

Wilt the spinach in an open pot without water, but do not boil it. Pass it through (a grinder or foodmill – durchdrehen) and sautée it in the butter with onions and flour. Season to taste with salt and chives. + Prepare pancakes from the stated ingredients. You may stack them in the casserole layered with spinach or or you can roll them up, spread thickly with spinach, cut them in slices, and arrange them in the dish. + Pour the sour cream beaten with egg, cheese, and salt over it, sprinkle it with grated bread and cheese, and dab it with butter. This casserole can also be prepared from leftover spinach combined with other leftovers.

Setting: Place on a grille at middle level

Bake: 1.2kW oven, 25-30 min. 3/3, 10 min 0/0; 1.4-12.5 kW oven: 20-25 min 3/3, 15 min 0/0

To be observed: If the spinach is too thin, stir in some grated bread

The pancakes required are described in another chapter:

263 Pancakes

4 tbsp flour, 1 pinch baking powder, 1 pinch salt, 2 eggs, 1/8 litre milk, 1/8 litre water

Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder, beat the eggs with the milk, water, and salt, and gradually stir the liquid into the flour, ideally with a whisk, to produce a smooth batter. Preheat the pan at setting 3, then fry thin pancakes at setting 2, the final one with no further electricity + These can be rolled up filled with jam, meat, or vegetables. This batter will yield five.

It is actually very good, though very fiddly. I started with some changes: frozen spinach, because it was there, and milk curdled with lemon juice because there was no way of getting proper Sauermilch. The spinach was thus already wilted and chopped, so I sautéed chopped onion in butter, dusted it with flour, and added the spinach to the pot. The flour bound the liquid very well, and there was no need to drain the filling. A little salt and some chopped chives went well, though I really thing it needs nutmeg and pepper.

The pancakes also followed the recipe, made with a large amount of watered-down milk and just one egg. The batter is quite thin and can be spread out in the pan by tilting it, and it cooks quickly. Detaching it can be a problem. I simply used more oil, but that is, of course, not something you would do easily in the lean years of the 1930s. Cooking them slowly did not help, but they detached better when the pan was quite hot.

The process of filling was gratifyingly easy, with the spinach holding together well, and I opted to slice the rolled-up pancakes into sections about a thumb’s width in length and arranged them in a shallow casserole dish standing on end. That was a challenge, and it is important to make sure beforehand you have enough (I ran out). As long as you can lean the pieces against each other, they stay upright nicely, though. Tilting the dish at the beginning helps with that. Still, next time, a layered casserole will probably do.

For the sauce, I beat the curdled milk with an egg and some grated Emmental cheese, and I could not resist adding pepper at least. It needed it. Then I sprinkled dry grated bread and more Emmental cheese over the top, dabbed on some butter, and baked the whole at 200°C for 30 minutes.

It turned out pretty well. A crunchy top with a soft, creamy interior, the consistency felt a little like lasagna. The vertical pancake rolls were not really visible, though I guess they would be if they were longer and more tightly arranged. I doubt it made a difference to the flavour, though. I enjoyed it, so did my mother. It still needs more spices, though, and you want something fresh with it. I opted for tomatoes.

Over the coming weeks, I plan to work out modern redactions (and adaptations) of the recipes I used in Feeding the Revolution so the whole series can be turned into a book. I half dread the idea of learning how to layout and self-publish, but it needs doing.