Creamed Greens with Nutmeg

From the garden

• 2½ lb sturdy greens (spinach, kale, chard, komatsuna, or any cooking green you have), leaves stripped from thick stems
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

From the pantry

• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups whole milk · plus a splash for loosening
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg · grated fresh if you can
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Strip the leaves from any thick stems. Chop the stems fine and set them aside: chard stems are worth keeping and only need a head start on the leaves.
2. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Blanch the leaves until fully tender, 2–3 minutes for spinach and 5–6 for kale or collards, then drain, cool briefly under cold water, and squeeze hard by the handful. Squeezing is the step that keeps the sauce from going watery. Chop the squeezed greens coarsely.
3. Melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium heat and cook the onion and chopped stems with a pinch of salt until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic for a minute, then scatter over the flour and cook 1 minute more, stirring, until it smells toasted rather than raw.
4. Pour in the milk a splash at a time, whisking smooth after each addition, then the cream. Simmer 3–4 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, and season with the nutmeg, a generous grind of pepper, and salt.
5. Fold in the greens and warm through 2–3 minutes, loosening with a splash of milk if it tightens. Stir in the parmesan off the heat, taste again for salt, and serve hot beside a roast, a steak, or eggs.