Although raw spinach leaves can be used in salad and other dishes, wilting is the most commonly used method for cooking this beautiful leafy plant. Overcooking spinach will result in limp, unpleasant leaves which are shorn of their vibrant green colour - it will wilt very quickly so take care when cooking.

The versatile flavour of spinach is a popular ingredient to be served as a side dish, as with Mark Poynton’s Sirloin of beef with braised oxtail, mushroom purée and spinach, or as one component of a larger meal - Marcus Wareing's Cannelloni with spinach, pumpkin and nutmeg, for example. The bittersweet taste works well with seared beef, goats cheese, egg and roast chicken. Paul Heathcote uses wilted spinach as a base for his Spaghetti Piemontesi pasta sauce - a quick and easy dish for a midweek dinner.