Spinach English Bunch Each

English spinach is the cook's spinach. Robust, flavoursome and deeply versatile, it is built for heat in a way that more delicate salad leaves are not. Wilt it into a pasta with garlic and olive oil, fold through a curry in the last few minutes of cooking, stir into a lentil soup, layer through a spanakopita, or cook down with butter and a little nutmeg as a simple side that goes with almost everything. The leaves hold their character under heat and deliver a clean earthy flavour that lifts every dish it goes into.

At its genuine best in the cooler months from April through August when cold growing conditions produce dark, tender leaves with full flavour and none of the bitterness that warmer weather can bring out. Available year-round but autumn and winter is your window for English spinach at its finest.

Not to be confused with baby spinach, which is a different product entirely. Baby spinach is a delicate salad leaf. English spinach is the bunch product with more robust leaves and stems built for cooking. If you are wilting it, braising it or folding it into something hot, this is the one you want.

Look for dark green upright leaves with firm stems and no yellowing or sliminess. A fresh bunch has a clean earthy smell that tells you it has not been sitting around. That freshness shows in the pan every time.