Spinach and Ricotta Crespelle
Crespelle (also known as Crespelle alla Fiorentina) is a delicious Italian dish where you make savory crêpes fill them with Spinach & Ricotta, cover everything with Béchamel Sauce and bake for a very short time. Crespelle in Italian means crêpes and although everyone knows that crêpes come from France Crespelle alla Fiorentina originated in Florence and are a very typical dish for family gatherings and dinners with friends.
Crespelle are a perfect autumn dish and you can test out various fillings and shapes. They are fun to make and don’t require much effort. Making Crespelle is all about three steps: making the crepes, making the béchamel sauce and making the filling - I also find Crespelle to be a good excercise for those who have never made either bèchamel or crepes before.
would like.Prep Time: 35 Minutes
Cooking Time: 5 Minutes
Ingredients for 4 Portions
Ingredients for the Crepes (around 28 cm each):
All purpose Flour 80 g
Eggs - 1
Whole milk 170 g
Butter 40 g
Salt
Ingredients for the Filling:
Ricotta - 500 g
Spinach - 300 g
Grana Padano (to be grated or grated) - 50 g
Olive Oil - 70 g
Garlic - 1 clove
Salt & Pepper
Ingredients for Béchamel (Besciamella) Sauce:
Butter - 100 g
All purpose Flour - 100 g
Salt - a pinch
Nutmeg (grated)
Whole milk - 1 l
How to:
Making Crespelle with Spinach and Ricotta is a three step preparation. First you will be making the savory crèpes, secondly you will be making the béchamel sauce and thirdly you will be making the ricotta and spinach filling. In the end you will combine all ingredients and can decide what shape or form your crespelles should have before they go into the oven.
Crépes
Start by melting the butter over very low heat in a saucepan, once it’s melted put it on the side and let it cool.
In a bowl, break the egg and add the milk. Then add the flour into the bowl as well and with a sieve mix everything together gently, avoiding lumps.
Now add the melted butter that has been cooling and keep mixing until you have a homogenous paste.
Cover everything with cling film and let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for half an hour. This step is extremely important. (During this time you can prepare the filling)
Once the half an hour has passed heat and lightly grease a crepe pan of about 28 cm in diameter or a thick-bottomed non-stick pan: grease with very little butter and wipe the entire surface with kitchen paper (this operation must be repeated at least one more time after cooking the first two crepes).
Pour some mixture into the pan and distribute the mixture over the entire surface.
As soon as the edges start to lift you can help yourself with a spatula to detach the crepe and gently turn it on the other side. It will take about 1 minute and a half on one side and 30 seconds on the other, for a total of a couple of minutes. Remember the first crepe is never perfect, the pan is still heating up and you still need some practice.
Cook all the crépes and put them on a plate, cover them with plastic wrap as soon as they are cooled in order for them not to dry out. You are officially done with the first part!
Béchamel
Melt 50 g of butter in a large saucepan over low heat, then pour in the flour and whisk with your hands.
Stir continuously with the whisk until you obtain a golden mixture. Then add the hot milk and add salt and nutmeg.
The béchamel should be quite thick so if you see that it’s not keep whisking and cooking it over low heat until it's the right consistency (thick).
Once the béchamel is done cooking put the sauce in a bowl and cover it with cling film - put it aside. You are officially done with the second part!
Filling (Spinach and Ricotta)
The last part is the Spinach and Ricotta filling - as mentioned earlier you can do this step while you wait for the crépe mixture to cool.
Clean the spinach and make sure you remove the thick stems.
In a pan heat the olive oil and the entire garlic clove (this way you will get the taste but you can remove it easily later)
Add a pinch of salt and pepper, cover with the lid on and cook over high heat for 7-8 minutes, until the spinach is softened.
In the meantime put the ricotta into a bowl, add some olive oil salt and pepper and mix everything by hand.
At this point you can add the drained, squeezed and warmed spinach (without garlic)
Now add the grated Grana Padano and mix everything together. You are officially done with the third part!
Composition
The last step is all about putting everything together. Take your crepes and decide what shape you want your crespelle to have, the most famous shapes are round (so you fill your crepe and roll it), folding fan (more like the typical crepe) or you can make little fagottini like we made (little bags).
For the bags we placed one crepe at a time on a plate, put some filling in the middle and closed it (using strings from a leek). We then placed them all in a baking tray.
Cooking
Sprinkle the crepes with béchamel and grated cheese
Place them in the oven for 6 minutes at 220° (grill) until the surface is lightly toasted and you can see they are getting more golden.