ITALIAN CRÊPES WITH CHEESE AND MUSHROOMS

Possibly Nonna’s cheesiest recipe

Crespelle are the relatively unknown Italian cousins of the world-famous French crepes. Although they are often oven-baked and mixed with other ingredients only to create savoury and delicious recipes.

The batter is usually quite runny so that the pancakes come out nice and thin, the perfect vessels to hold respectfully and enhance any tasty filling!

The result is a decadent first course that is perfect for an everyday meal with a oomph, and a quicker alternative to other Sunday special baked dishes like lasagna or cannelloni.

A little history

These might look like crêpes, but they are the very Italian predecessor, already known in Florence in the 1500s.

When Catherine de' Medici, who was known for her good taste in food, moved to Paris to marry Henry II, in 1533, she insisted on bringing her Florentine cooks amongst her entourage.

She introduced cooking techniques and ingredients to her French guests that had never been seen before—things like these crespelle, besciamella, and her most favourite vegetable, spinach (This is why dishes with spinach are still known as “Florentine,” but that's another story.)

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INGREDIENTS👇🏻

• 2 eggs

• 250ml | 8.8fl oz whole milk

• 125g | 4.4oz plain flour

• 30g | 1.07oz unsalted butter

• 200g | 7.1oz champignon mushrooms

• 100g | 3.5oz Fontina cheese [or a strong Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese]

• 250ml | 8.8fl oz besciamella

• 1 clove of garlic • 50g | 1.75oz parmigiano Reggiano cheese • Extra virgin olive oil • Fresh parsley to taste

• Sea salt to taste

The recipe step by step

1. For the crêpes batter, melt 20g | 0.7oz of unsalted butter and set aside to cool down
   

2. Whisk the eggs and add milk and salt before incorporating the cool melted butter
   

3. Sieve the flour into the mix and whisk thoroughly until no lumps are left in the batter, then seal and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
   

4. For the crêpes filling, slice the champignon mushrooms and sauté them in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic and sea salt to taste
   

5. Once cooked and off the heat, remove the garlic clove and add the parsley that you have finely chopped just before
   

6. Cube the Fontina cheese – a strong Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese will do as well – and set aside
   

7. Remove the batter from the fridge, melt the remaining butter in the pan and add a ladle of batter at a time, spreading it evenly and thinly in the pan. Let it cook on low heat for 1 minute on each side. Repeat until you have used all the batter
   

8. Fill the crêpes by spreading two table spoons of besciamella on one side, then cover half of the crêpe with a few sautéed mushrooms and cubes of Fontina cheese and fold over pressing on the rim to seal; then fold in half again and set aside until you have prepared all your crêpes
   

9. Spread some besciamella at the bottom of your baking tray before laying the crêpes overlapping them slightly, cover with grated parmigiano Reggiano cheese
   

10. Bake on static mode for 25 minutes at 180°C | 356°F, then turn to grill for another 5 minutes
    

11. Let it rest for 2 minutes before plating them up…then enjoy! 😋