Savoury crepes with gorgonzola cheese and artichokes

• 80 minutes to prepare • 40 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Oh Crêpe V

Merry Christmas, again!
It’s time to start thinking about New Year's Eve menu, and I think I have just the thing: savory crêpes!

The great thing about this recipe is that you can make absolutely everything ahead.
Just prepare your baking tray in the morning, leave it in the fridge and cook it when your guesta are coming.

Crepes can be filled with almost anything. Today it is artichokes' and gorgonzola cheese's turn.
Artichokes require some extra preparation time because you need to soak them with lemon juice to get rid of the sourness. But the, just braise them and you should be able to throw it together in minutes.
Buon appetito!


Here's what you will need for the 4-serving recipe:

For 5 crepes:
160 g flour 00
2 eggs, lightly beaten
500 ml milk

For the filling:
5 raw artichokes hearts

1 lemon

200 g Gorgonzola cheese

1 clove garlic

EVO oil

For the bechamel sauce:
300 ml milk
30 g butter
30 g flour 00
50 g grated Parmesan cheese
salt

1. Cut the artichoke hearts into thin slices and sprinkle with lemon juice. Then, soak them in cold water (together with the lemon) and leave them there for at least one hour
2. Meanwhile, make the crepes, as described here
3. Braise garlic with 2 tablespoons of EVO oil; when it is golden, remove it and add the artichoke slices. Add some water and cook gently perfuming with a pinch of pepper for about 10 minutes, until artichokes become soft. Then, add a pinch of salt, and keep aside
4. Place the artichokes, 3 tablespoons of EVO oil in a blender. Blend until you obtain a smooth sauce
5. Prepare bechamel sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour.
   Whisk until smooth then slowly pour in the milk, a little at a time. Whisk continuously until the sauce is thick then turn down the heat, add the salt and allow to simmer, stirring, until the sauce is thick and cooked through (this takes around 5 minutes on a gentle heat). Once the sauce is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese
6. Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced
7. Place one ladle of bechamel sauce on the bottom of a a large baking dish
8. Lay a crepe on a clean work surface and place a spoon of artichokes' sauce onto the crepe. Add one spoon of bechamel, few Gorgonzola cubes -, and fold it twice and place in the baking tray, seam side down. Repeat with 4 more crepes
9. Spread the remaining bechamel sauce and freshly groung pepper over the crepes
10. Bake for 20 minutes, 15 minutes sealed with aluminium foil, and the last 5 minutes without it
11. Let it cool down for 5 minutes and bring it to your table!

In the following, Nutrition Facts of this dish are indicated. Data is provided per serving.