Ant's Creamed Spinach

This is going into my recipe book as a family favorite, Ant's Creamed Spinach (we served 6 people with this). It's always a real treat when we go out to a steakhouse for dinner, and we always know at least one side dish that we will get, creamed spinach, Ant's favorite. We haven't found the perfect one yet. Some are to dry, too much cheese, to liquidy, etc... Since, I watch a lot of Food Network and Cooking Channel, Anthony gets pulled into some of the shows as well. He ended up watching Chuck Hughes "Chuckmas" and they made a creamed spinach which gave Ant the idea to try and make a recipe that was perfect to his taste buds. We looked at a few of my cookbooks and some online recipes and took a little from here and there and added some of our own touches, like bacon and panko bread crumb topping. We did a trial at our neighbors house prior to Christmas, and Gerry (not a spinach fan at all), ended up trying it and loved it. So, it was official that we were going to make it to accompany Christmas dinner. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 (10 ounce) bags clean fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons minced white onion
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Panko Bread topping

• 1 cup panko (you can also use regular bread crumbs)
• 2 table spoon of butter
• pinch of italian seasoning

Directions

1. Take a large skillet over medium high heat and cook the bacon until crisp, place on a plate wtih papertowels to soak up excess grease. Once cooled, cut into small crumbles and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted, stirring constantly. Remove from the skillet and drain in a colander. Try to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
3. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onions; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes (don't burn the garlic!).
4. Add the spinach and stir in the heavy cream.
5. Sprinkle in the mozzarella cheese and stir to melt and coat the spinach.
6. Once the mozzarella has melted, stir in the Parmesan cheese and bacon bits and continue to cook and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to your tasting!
7. Pour spinach mixture into a greased casserole dish
8. Now take a smaller pot, and melt 2TBS of butter, once melted, remove from heat and stir in panko and seasoning and stir to combine. Sprinkle this on top of the creamed spinach and place under boiler (high) for 3-4 minutes until its golden brown on top.