Savoury crepes with ham and ricotta cheese

• 30 minutes to prepare • 120 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Oh Crêpe

I absolutely love crepes, they bring back a lot of childhood memories.
My mom always made crepes for our family on Sunday's. I used to compete with my sister how many we can each eat before being in a food coma, ha ha!
These savory crepes also remind me of a healthier version of the very tasty Dutch pancakes, pannenkoeken!

The batter in these crepes is made with flour, but for those of you who are gluten free, a gluten free flour can be used as well.
Moreover, you can freeze them and keep them ready for next time, for your next filling inspiration!



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 thin slices ham
150 g ricotta cheese

For the bechamel sauce:
200 ml milk
20 g butter
20 g flour 00
30 g grated Parmigiano cheese
salt

1. Make the crepes: place the eggs in a mixing bowl, and add the flour
2. Add half of the milk and whisk until your mixture is lump free. Keep adding milk slowly until all the lumps have disappeared, then add remainder of milk, and mix through
3. Leave to stand for 30 minutes, then strain the mix through a sieve to make them completely lump free
4. Heat a 20-cm non stick crepe pan over medium-high heat and wipe it lightly with butter. Using a ladle, pour 1/2 of a ladle full into the top edge of the pan, and quickly tilt your pan around so the batter covers the entire pan. Keep swirling it around until the mixture stops running
5. Cook for 1 minute. When the sides of the crepe will start to color and will lift away from the side of the pan, slide a long plastic icing spatula under the center of crepe, and flip the crepe. Cook for a further 30 seconds, until lightly colored
6. Repeat with butter and remaining batter. Then, keep crepes aside to cool down
7. Meanwhile, 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 Parmigiano cheese
8. Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced
9. Place one ladle of bechamel sauce on the bottom of a a large baking dish
10. Lay a crepe on a clean work surface and place a slice of ham onto the crepe. Spread 1 spoon of ricotta cheese down the center of the crepe. Fold it twice and place in the baking tray, seam side down. Repeat with 4 more crepes
11. Spread the remaining bechamel sauce over the crepes. Sprinkle over some more Parmigiano cheese
12. Bake for 20 minutes, 15 minutes sealed with aluminium foil, and the last 5 minutes without it
13. Let it cool down for 5 minutes and bring it to your gluttonous table!

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