The simplest spinach with nutmeg and butter

I like the irony taste of spinach, I love the colour, it's really good for you but not one seems to know how to cook it. My lovely mother-in-law boils the hell out of it so she ends up with grey-green water and kinda green spinach. Where’s all the goodness?

In the water. So forget everything you know about cooking spinach, this is the way we do it from now on. Either pick or buy spinach on the stalk, which you should wash well, sometimes two or three times but that’s not the end of the world. If you’ve got lovely young leaves then leave them on the stalk and just pick the outer leaves off. Or, as most of us do, buy packs of prewashed baby spinach from the supermarket – how convenient. You can also use Swiss chard or Savoy cabbage in place of spinach.

To a hot pan or wok add a little oil, sway the pan about and add 4 huge handfuls of spinach. This will look like a lot, but it will soon cook down. It will sizzle a bit so just stand by it and turn it over every 5 seconds. After about 30 seconds it will begin to wilt and hopefully only a little water will start to cook out of the spinach (if there is a lot then pour a little away). Add 3 big knobs of butter and grate in about 12 rubs of nutmeg to taste. Mix, season and serve. The butter and the water should mix together giving you just enough natural sauce to bind everything together.

• from Return Of The Naked Chef