Crespelle – Savoury Crepes, plus Peas, Ham and Fontina Cheese

These Crespelle (savoury crepes) are stuffed with ricotta, peas and ham and baked with a good Fontina cheese sauce!

Hello Friday, we're so happy you are here!

It's been a productive week so far, we've been so busy cooking away in the kitchen developing and testing recipes for the next few weeks and we've got so much deliciousness coming your way!

So what's on the menu today? Crespelle, that's what!

Crespelle are Italian savoury crepes that are normally filled with spinach and ricotta and topped with a simple bechamel sauce and a couple spoons of tomato passata. They are good!

Look at the cheesy goodness right here…

We decided to give these crespelle a Spring-like makeover swapping the spinach for peas and cubes of prosciutto cotto or ham and topping it with a good cheesy bechamel sauce made from Fontina cheese.

Fontina cheese = LOVE. This cheese sauce is to die for, Fontina is a solid melting cheese and has a lovely strong flavour but if you can't find it then Gruyere would be a great alternative.

The great thing about these savoury crepes is that you can make the crepes and the filling in advance then when you're ready to make dinner all that's left to do is make the cheese sauce (under 10 mins) and assemble the crespelle, simple! These are also great cold the next day with salad for either lunch or dinner.

Savoury crepes are always SO good and can be filled with about anything. We also love filling our crespelle with wild mushrooms and taleggio cheese, spinach and ricotta and even left over ragú..oooh they are so good!

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

Soups

Crespelle in Brodo (Cheese Crepes in Broth)

Pasta

Pasta alle Sette P (Seven P's Pasta)

Antipasti

Burrata and Parmigiano Crostini with Crispy Prosciutto

Mains

Vitello Tonnato (Veal with Tuna Sauce)

Ingredients

Makes 4 people

For the crespelle

• ~1 1/4 cups (150g) plain flour
• 2 eggs
• ~15 fl oz (450ml) milk
• ~4 tbsp (50g) butter (melted)
• Pinch salt

For the filling

• ~2 cups (500g) ricotta
• ~5.9 oz (170g) peas (frozen)
• ~3.5 oz (100g) ham (cubed)
• 1 egg
• 1 large handful basil (chopped)
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

For the sauce

• ~4 tbsp (50g) butter
• ~ 1/2 cup (50g) plain flour
• ~2 cups (500ml) milk
• ~4.2 oz (120g) Fontina cheese
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

Method

To make the crespelle batter

1. Mix the flour and eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add the milk and the melted butter, whisk to as smooth a batter as possible then set aside for half an hour.

To make the filling

1. Boil the frozen peas in boiling water for a couple minutes then run under cold water to stop them cooking any further.

2. Add the ricotta and egg to a bowl and mix together. Add the cubed ham, peas, basil, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease a large frying pan with a small knob of butter and place under a medium/low heat. Add a ladle of crespelle batter to the pan and swirl to form a crespella. When the top of the crespella starts to look dry, flip it over and fry the other side for a few seconds. Continue with the rest of the batter (you should have 8 crespelle).

To make the sauce

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour. Stir to a thick paste and cook for 1 minute. Slowly add one-third of the milk whisking constantly. When it starts to thicken add another third of milk and repeat until you've used all the milk. Add the fontina cheese keeping around 1 tbsp for the topping and stir until melted.

2. Lay a crespella out on a clean surface and cover one half with some of the filling (around 2 tbsp). Fold the crespella in half and then in half again (you can also roll them length ways if you prefer). Add it to a baking dish and repeat with the rest of the crespelle. Cover with the cheese sauce and top with the remaining tbsp of fontina cheese then bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve.