Spinach, Cheese and Mushroom Cakes with Roasted Garlic Sauce

I love those tried-and-true ingredient combinations. The ones that, when you see them listed together in a restaurant menu, you order that item right away because you know it’s going to taste good. If I like how certain toppings taste in an omelette, I would most definitely try them on a pizza. This recipe was inspired by a mouth-wateringly good spinach, cheese and mushroom crepe with garlic sauce. Yes, it was a crepe – now it’s cakes. Let me explain.

These particular crepes are only available once a week on Saturday mornings at the Brickworks Farmer’s Market, from a man named Clément. He has a table covered with various savoury and sweet crepe fillings, a large tub of batter and two large crepe machines. You won’t know where his stall is until you get close to it, because it is almost entirely obscured by a long line snaking around the table. The wait is long because your crepe is made fresh, on the spot, in front of you. His creations are incredibly flavourful down to the crepes themselves, which are made with buckwheat and Red Fife, a Canadian heritage variety of wheat with a robust, nutty taste.

After thoroughly enjoying Clément’s spinach, cheese and mushroom crepe with garlic sauce, I wanted to find a way to revel in these flavours any day of the week, and in my own kitchen. I did not want to directly imitate this dish because, well, I can’t make crepes nor can I deconstruct a magical crepe batter recipe (maybe some day!). Instead, I decided to go a crispier route. My inspired version has the spinach, cheese, mushrooms, rosemary and roasted garlic flavours… and spelt breadcrumbs.

My mother-in-law found spelt breadcrumbs at her local grocery store and started sprinkling them on her sushi as a nutritious alternative to panko for adding crunch. As a Japanese food fanatic I was totally aghast at first. “Spelt? on sushi!?” I exclaimed. “Try some,” she said, and I was pleased to discover the wonderfully crunchy texture of the breadcrumbs had a subtle, nutty flavour which didn’t overpower the sushi, but would probably best shine in another application. I decided to use it as my flavour substitution for those addictive crepes.

I thought of cakes as a great medium for these ingredients because crab, shrimp and lobster cakes are so delicious and vegetarians deserve to experience their flaky, oozy, crispy yet tender goodness. After scouring the internet for a base recipe, I found a version for just-spinach cakes that used Asiago cheese, which is bold and tangy and holds up well to other strong flavours. I took that idea and added Parmesan (because who doesn’t love Parmesan?), rewrote the method, tweaked other ingredients and voila! Crepe inspiration.

In paying homage to the garlic sauce from the crepe, I wanted to do something creamy that would work as a dipping sauce, but not be so heavy that it filled you up, thus preventing you from eating as many of these little cakes as possible (yes they are addictive!). I settled on a sauce made with greek yogurt and roasted garlic. I suggest that you roast the garlic (and thaw the spinach) before starting to put the recipes together, so that you won’t have to wait later on. The roasted garlic is used in the cakes and the sauce, lending its creamy, caramelized flavour to both.

This recipe makes a lot of little cakes, making it a great party dish! An abundance of spinach, cheese and mushroom cakes and roasted garlic sauce means that they won’t be all gobbled up by the time you get a chance to try one.

Spinach, Cheese and Mushroom Cakes

Inspiration from Veggie by Season

Yield: About 30 pieces

1 head garlic

4 tsp olive oil

1 package (227g or 8oz) crimini mushrooms, diced

1 package (500g or 17oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed at room temperature

¼ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp dried rosemary

2 eggs

2 tbsp dijon mustard

¾ cup Asiago cheese, grated

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 cup spelt breadcrumbs (I used ShaSha Bread Co. organic)

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare the whole head of garlic for roasting: leave it unpeeled and place it in a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap all the way around it. Cover the garlic in 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap the foil tightly around the garlic and place in a small roasting pan or baking sheet. Roast the garlic in the oven for about 45 minutes. While the garlic is roasting, prepare the spinach by taking small handfuls from the package and squeezing until the liquid drains out. Put the squeezed spinach in a bowl lined with paper towel to absorb any remaining liquid. The garlic will be ready when the cloves become soft and can be squeezed right out of the papery skin. Remove all of the roasted garlic from the skin and set aside.

In a sauté pan, cook the diced onion on medium-low heat in 3 tsp olive oil until the onion appears translucent. Add the mushrooms to the pan, increase the heat to medium and cook the mushrooms until they have browned slightly and have shrunk in size. Add the dried herbs and the spinach and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thoroughly combined. After the spinach has turned bright green, turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl and stir in the mustard. Add 1 tsp of the roasted garlic, the cooked onion, mushrooms, herbs and spinach and fold together along with the Asiago and Parmesan cheeses. Stir in ½ cup of the spelt breadcrumbs. The mixture should now be slightly sticky (not dry). Form cakes to a size of your choosing (making sure they are all roughly equal) and dredge them in the remaining breadcrumbs to form a crispy coating. Place the cakes on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper and refrigerate for half an hour so that they will firm up before cooking. While the cakes are refrigerating, make the Roasted Garlic Sauce.

Wipe out the pan you were using earlier and add 1 tbsp canola oil over medium heat. Fry the spinach, cheese and mushroom cakes in batches until they become crispy and golden brown on both sides. Remove the cooked cakes from the pan and repeat the above frying process until all the cakes are cooked. Serve the cakes with the Roasted Garlic Sauce. 

Roasted Garlic Sauce

Remaining roasted garlic from Spinach, Cheese and Mushroom Cakes recipe (about 2 tsp)

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 tsp Dijon mustard

¼ tsp olive oil

½ tsp honey (or to taste)

½ tsp salt (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir until the texture is smooth and consistent. Adjust amounts of honey and salt to personal taste, if desired. Serve with a small spoon for dolloping onto the spinach, cheese and mushroom cakes!

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