Spinach and Cheese Crêpes
Thin, golden crêpes filled with greens and cheese that melts into every fold. A light, quick supper that also works as an elegant starter.
The batter rests for 30 minutes before it is used. That rest relaxes the gluten: without it the crêpes tear exactly as you turn them, which is the point where nothing can be done.
And the filling does not go in cold. The greens are wilted first in the same pan, and the folded crêpe goes back onto the heat for a minute — that is when the cheese melts.
Spinach and arugula (rocket) are interchangeable, and can also be mixed: rocket brings a bitterness that spinach alone does not have.
The filled and baked version of these same green pancakes are the spinach, ham and ricotta cannelloni.
🔎 What is watercress? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.
Ingredients
- 500 ml milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 125 g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 egg
- Butter for cooking each crêpe
- 1 bunch of spinach (100-150 g), or arugula (rocket), or half and half
- 30 g mild melting cheese per crêpe
- Cream (optional)
Method
- 1
The batter: mix the flour, the egg, the melted butter and a pinch of salt, then add the milk a little at a time until you have a smooth, quite liquid batter with no lumps. Any lumps that do form can be blitzed away with a stick blender in seconds.
- 2
Let the batter rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes: it becomes more pliable and does not tear when you turn the crêpes.
- 3
Heat a non-stick pan of about 22 cm over medium heat and grease it with a little butter. Pour in a small ladle of batter and swirl the pan to spread it into a thin, even layer.
- 4
Cook for around 1 minute, until the edges lift and the base is golden. Turn it and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Repeat until the batter is used up, stacking the crêpes.
- 5
Wash the greens and wilt them for a few seconds in the same pan. Season. If you add watercress, always combine it with spinach or rocket: on its own it comes out too peppery.
- 6
Fill each crêpe with the greens and the slices of cheese, fold it and leave it another minute in the warm pan, until the cheese melts. Serve with a thread of cream if you like.