Homemade Crepes

I think I have mentioned before that Mr B and I do our weekly groceries online and then collect them from the store at a set date and time. Well recently I was doing our regular online order and happily working my way through the list of things we needed.....

'pumpkin, chocolate melts, avocado, crepes.....' but when I found said crepes I couldn't believe how much they were - and not in a good way!

So I did the only thing I could do, I decided to make them myself and I was so pleased with how they turned out (aside from that minor incident when I flipped one out of the pan trying to be all cool and it landed on my thumb.....very hot crepe vs. thumb = jumping up and down whilst waving your burnt thumb in the air...) that I think our crepe buying days are over!

Basic Crepes - Makes 10

125 g plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
A pinch sea salt
2 eggs
300ml milk
30g butter, melted

Place the flour, sugar, salt, eggs and 100 ml of the milk in a large bowl. Slowly add the butter and whisk together until smooth. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking as you go to ensure there are no lumps. The batter should be perfectly smooth and very runny. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour to rest.

Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan (or crepe pan if you have one) over a medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tspn of butter to the pan and allow it to melt before wiping most of it from the pan using a piece of paper towel.

Carefully pour 1/4 cup of the crepe batter into the pan and swirl it around so that it is quite thin. I used quite a large frying pan and swirled my first crepe out to thinly coat the base.....but it was far too thin and I had no hope of flipping it over so for the next one I used the same amount of batter (1/4 cup) and swirled it out to about 20cm in diameter and it worked perfectly. Cook the crepe for 1-2 minutes or until the surface is no longer shiny and the edges are starting to brown. Carefully flip the crepe over with a spatula and allow it to cook for a further 1 minute or until done.

Slide the crepe onto a plate and repeat with the remaining batter.

I had so many ideas for what I wanted to do with these crepes (and they will most certainly be re-appearing this week filled with strawberries and cream!) but their first mission was these Pumpkin and Ricotta Crepes.

Pumpkin and Ricotta Crepes - Serves 4

8 crepes
800g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced
250g light ricotta
500g frozen spinach, defrosted
1/4 cup parmesan
1 cup thickened cream
2 tbspns wet italian herbs
Salt and Pepper to season
Steamed beans to serve

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Place pumpkin in a large lightly greased oven proof dish and roast for 45-60 mins or until tender. Mash until smooth.

Squeeze any excess liquid from the spinach. Combine spinach, ricotta and pumpkin and season with salt and pepper.

For each crepe, spoon 1/4 cup of the pumpkin mixture along the edge of your crepe and roll up to enclose the filling. Place the crepe seam-side down into a lightly greased oven proof dish. Repeat with remaining crepes and pumpkin mixture.

Whisk the cream and herbs in a jug. Pour over the crepes. Top with parmesan. and bake for 15-20 mins or until golden.

Serve with steamed beans and enjoy!

Is there anything that you have decided to tackle yourself because you refuse to pay supermarket prices for it??

Mrs B xx