The basic recipe for crêpes or "crespelle" in Italian is the same for both sweet and savory preparations. The secret here is to get a very thin crêpes. They are delicious in a thousand ways, with any filling you want, sweet or savoury, or for a tasty snack. Here what we call Crespelle di Formaggi (Crespelle with cheeses) is defined as a pasta dish, a kind like stuffed cannelloni but cut into small pieces instead of left as a long roll. Inside are different cheeses, but can also be made with meat, or ricotta and spinach. From Nonna to Mamma this Crêpes recipe is made and presented in the same authentic traditional way as the ancient recipe from my Village, Arcevia, Marche Region, Italy.
Serves 4 People
INGREDIENTS:
For the Crêpes Batter:
180g cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
400ml whole milk (room temperature)
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
For the Filling:
200g fontina
50g emmental
1 mozzarella Galbani
2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
500ml of béchamel
How to make the béchamel?
For 500ml béchamel melt 50g butter in a saucepan, low heat. Stir in an equal amount of flour and with a spatula quickly mix until you get cook the mixture for just under 30 sec. – known as a roux. Stir in warm milk, a little at a time, stirring at all the time with the help of a stainless steel looped wire whisk so that no lumps form. Bring the mixture to the boil, around 10 min, so that the mixture thickens and becomes glossy.
Preparation for the batter:
It is very important to prepare the crêpe batter one day before. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and slowly add the flour until it is all incorporated. Add the salt and olive oil, mix and slowly add the room temperature milk. Continue to whisk until all of the milk is incorporated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
To Make the filling:
Chop all of the cheeses into very small pieces, crumble the mozzarella with your hand and place all in a medium bowl together with 250ml béchamel. Mix well all together with a fork.
Preparation:
Remove the crepe batter from the fridge and start to heat a crepe pan until hot (If you're new to crepe-making, I would recommend using a lower temperature at first until you get the hang of it). Brush the pan with bit of butter (not too much as you already have olive oil in the batter to help the crepes not to stick), reduce the heat to medium, and pour a few tablespoons of batter into the pan, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan evenly with the batter. Cook until lightly golden, about 30-40 seconds. Flip crepe over gently and cook the other side for about 20-30 seconds. Continue making crepes until all the batter has been used.
Preheat the oven to 180C / 356°F fan. Take an oval (it is important that this need to be oval to accommodate the rounded shape of the Crespelle) glass roasting dish of around 26cm and layer some béchamel as a base. Fill each crepe by spreading the cheese filling with a spatula and carefully roll it to a chunky 3-4 cm. Cut into cubes and arrange in the tray, side-by-side. Fill all the tray, sprinkle lots parmesan cheese over the top and and pour the remainder of the béchamel, 250ml, covering the whole tray. Sprinkle with some fresh tomatoes passata (puree) drops all over.
Cook in the oven for around 30min, or until get a light golden brown colour. Different ovens can vary the intensity of the heat, so make sure you don't overcook. Wait around 15 min before serving as this will be very very hot! Enjoy the delicious taste of the melted cheeses! A good red or white wine can complete your journey ;)
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