Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Herb Crepes
May 14, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Grow Your Own, Main Course, Vegetables
I always feel so elegant when eating crepes, even if I’m tres casual at the time. We’ve enjoyed them on several occasions since trying the wonderful recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, and each time I glanced at my herb garden, thinking about adding herbs to the batter and making some savory crepes. After I stumbled across this recipe at Epicurious, I knew I had to make it.
The crepes are slightly crispy when they come out of the oven topped with grated Parmesan, and you just pour on that slightly spicy sauce and serve. It’s one of those dishes that’s great for company because you can prepare the crepes and sauce a day or two ahead, then whip up the filling just before assembling and baking. As someone who is fond of baked manicotti, I found this much easier because you don’t have to stuff the pasta and worry about it breaking. The crepes roll up around the ricotta filling and go in and out of the pan easily. Michael said, “Wow!” when I plated them and kept saying how good they tasted. I guess the flavorful crepes made him feel pretty special, too.
This is my entry for this month’s Grow Your Own event. The fresh basil and parsley came from our indoor herb garden. When bell peppers are in season, you can use those instead of the spinach in the filling, and of course fresh tomatoes straight from the garden will taste delicious in the sauce.
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The Sweet Melissa Baking Book
How often do you find a cookbook that is so chock full of good recipes that you want to make every single one of them? That day? That’s how I felt when The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy arrived in my mailbox. I grabbed the package and took it along in the car when I went to pick up the boys for school, knowing I would have a few minutes to browse while waiting for them. A few minutes was not enough because I found myself pouring over the pages. Many of my cookbooks have sticky flags on the pages with recipes that I like or want to try, but for Murphy’s book I didn’t even bother because I will eventually make everything in it, and the things that I have made so far have been fantastic.
Murphy is the chef and owner of Sweet Melissa Patisserie in New York City, a popular bakery considered one of the best in the city. I spent some time on the bakery’s website, wishing I had a spot in my neighborhood with food that good so I could take the laptop and hang out there on my mommy days. The menu is so tempting and her wedding and specialty cakes are breathtaking. I plan to take a trip to New York City sometime, and one of my first stops will be Sweet Melissa, especially if it has WiFi. Murphy also has a few baking podcasts available on PodCastGo.com, which are now on my iPod.
Because my favorite meal is breakfast, I started in the “Dessert for Breakfast” chapter with her Sweet Muffins recipe. For both her sweet and savory muffins, Murphy encourages variation by not specifying particular fruits or cheeses and vegetables within the text of the recipes, but saves the suggestions for tasty combinations for the end. I made the sweet muffins while Michael’s parents were visiting a few weekends ago, and added apples, cinnamon, and dried cranberries. The muffins were a hit, and it’s a good thing I made a double batch that morning, otherwise there would have been none left for me to photograph. They were perfect right out of the pan, no butter or jam required, with a slightly crispy crust and moist crumb, and the vanilla sugar on top added a sweet, aromatic crunch. Read more
