spinach and ricotta pancakes
You must have worked out by now that I am a ricotta fan as the last recipe I posted also featured this cheese. The Italian name for this dish is crespelle di ricotta e spinaci. I made it last Tuesday, which was shrove Tuesday ( martedí grasso in Italian), as that’s the traditional day in England to eat pancakes. The way to eat them here is with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar but I fancied something savoury and more substantial. I know it’s a bit of a faff to make the pancakes but the homemade ones taste so much nicer than the ready made ones. Plus you can make them in advance and stuff them at a later stage. There are many recipes for the batter. I used the one I found in the Silver spoon recipe book or Cucchiaio d’ argento, which is the legendary bible of Italian cooking. It used to be owned by all good Italian housewives in the past. Not so sure that’s the case anymore ( Candi, please comment). It has been translated in English and I confess I have both. But enough chatting and let’s get cooking…
INGREDIENTS FOR THE PANCAKES (makes 8 large ones or 12 small ones)
100 gr. plain flour
2 eggs
250 ml. milk
25 gr. butter (melted)
salt
PREPARATION
Sift the flour into a bowl, add the eggs and 3-4 tablespoons of the milk and mix well. Gradually stir in the remaining milk and whisk well. When it’s all well amalgamated add the melted butter. Season and let it stand for at least an hour. When you are ready to cook them brush a frying pan with some oil and heat, then cook the pancakes using two/three tablespoons of batter at a time. When they are all cooked set on one side.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SPINACH AND RICOTTA STUFFING
400 gr. spinach leaves
250 gr. ricotta
1 egg
4/5 heaped tablespoons of grated parmesan
salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
FOR THE TOPPING
150 gr double cream
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
PREPARATION
Steam the spinach leaves. When they are cooked squeeze as much excess water as you can, chop them and put them in bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Stuff each pancake with some of the mixture then roll it (traditionally you fold them in half). Arrange the pancakes in a buttered dish. Spoon the cream on top and sprinkle with the parmesan. Bake in a hot oven at 180 C for 15-20 minutes (until golden on the top).
Certo! Abbiamo tutte il nostro bel Cucchiaio d’argento, un po’ unto e un po’ consunto, sulle nostre mensole di cucina. Almeno fino alla mia generazione di cinquantenni. Confesso che a volte lo disdegno per curiosare in libri più nuovi o modaioli e poi alla fine vedo che molte cose erano già tutte lì.
Invece, crepes, crespelle, pancakes, bliny, blinchiki… Allora ne parliamo???
Dappertutto queste fritelline immagine del sole spopolano a carnevale. A breve, dunque, posterò una ricettina di blinchiki, di magro come i tuoi, Lucina, visto che ormai siamo in Quaresima
What a good Catholic girl!!! No idea what I blinchiki di magro are ( I suspect a Russian recipe) but I am curious!!
RE: Cucchiaio d’argento. I confess I consult more glitzy books too. The more colourful pictures they have, the more I like them….:-)
glitzy? mai sentito?!! sciccoso? patinato?
i bliny sono le crepes russe, super super tradizionali. La prima cosa che impara una cuoca russa.
I’d say sciccoso is a good translation of glitzy. You really are making an effort with your English Candi!!…he he.As for the bliny I’m awaiting the recipe with baited breath!