These Cheesy Crespelle with Harissa Butter are stuffed with a spinach and ricotta filling. It's my take on the Italian dish Crespelle - a Tuscan recipe that's inspired by French crêpes. The layered savory pancakes are grilled until the cheese is melted and golden, and then served with a harissa butter, fresh dill, and parsley. Phenomenal.
This works as a breakfast, lunch, or dinner dish. It's surprisingly simple to make but is always a crowd-pleaser.
If you've been here for a while, you'll know that all of my recipes tend to take inspiration from ingredients, cooking methods, or dishes from around the world. So for another pancake-style dish, check out my okonomiyaki traybake for a Japanese-style pancake dish. For those of you who are here for the cheesy spinach filling, you'll love my tirpotakia-inspired feta spinach chilli oil pastries that are such a treat in summer. Lastly for a unique appetiser option, my deep-fried olives are a fab option!
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Why you'll love this recipe
Something a bit different: I don't know about you, but it's so easy to get into a rotation of recipes that eventually gets a bit boring. This crespelle with ricotta and spinach filling is quite the opposite. It's a way to soup up pancakes and serve them at any time of the day!
Simple ingredients: the pancake batter is just eggs, flour, and milk. The filling is spinach, ricotta, oregano, garlic, mozzarella, and the zest of a lemon. Nothing fancy, but the outcome is a gorgeous combination of flavours!
Prep in advance: if you've got guests coming over and you want to prep these in advance, amazing. You can make the pancakes and the filling in advance and assemble before your guests arrive. Simply top with parmesan, place under the grill to heat up and melt the cheese, and serve!
Ingredients and substitutions
For the crespelle batter
Milk: I'm using cow's milk for this recipe! Full-fat or semi-skimmed (fat or light milk) would be great, whatever you fancy! If you're wanting to use a dairy free milk, I'd recommend either going for sugar-free almond milk or oat milk!
Eggs: medium-sized eggs are perfect for this recipe. You may have to adjust the milk amount based on the consistency of the batter, because the large the eggs, the less milk you'll need!
Flour: we're using plain flour for this recipe. You could use wholegrain flour or a different grain flour for a more nuttier taste. Don't use self-raising flour, as this will create fluffy pancakes, which isn't the consistency we want. You could use gluten-free flour for those of you who'd like to!
For the filling
Spinach: fresh or frozen spinach is great for this recipe. If you're choosing fresh, we want to wilt it down and slice it before adding it to the ricotta filling. If you're not a fan of spinach, you could use kale or peas for this recipe!
Ricotta: this adds the base creaminess to the dish. If you don't have ricotta, you could use mascarpone of cream cheese.
Oregano: we're using dried oregano for this recipe, but you could also use fresh. If you don't have oregano, you can use a mixture of dried herbs, whichever you like!
Garlic: fresh garlic, finely chopped, adds a lovely edge to the filling. You can use garlic powder if the fresh garlic is too much for you.
Mozzarella: we're using grated mozzarella to add to the cheesy filling. If you want to go for a cheese with a bit more flavour, you can opt for cheddar. For something with a bit of a kick, blue cheese would work really well!
Lemon: this balances out the creaminess in the crespelle filling, providing a bit of freshness.
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and flour. Whisk until smooth. You want the batter have a pourable consistency, almost like thick cream. So feel free to add more milk if too thick, or more flour, if too runny.
Step 2: Place a non-stick frying pan/skillet on medium heat and add a teaspoon of salted butter. Circle the butter around the pan to cover the base, then scoop a ladle of the batter into the centre of the pan and gently swirl it around to even out the pancake. Fry for 2-3 minutes until golden and patchy, then flip and fry on the other side for another minute until golden and patchy. Set aside on a plate and repeat for all 6 pancakes.
Step 3: Next up, make the ricotta spinach filling by combining the chopped wilted spinach, ricotta, dried oregano, minced garlic, grated mozzarella, zest of a lemon, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Taste and season accordingly.
Step 4: Place a pancake down on a clean surface or chopping board and add ⅙ of the ricotta filling into one quarter of crespelle. Fold the pancake in half, then in half again, forming a quarter-fold or handkerchief-style fold. Repeat for the other 5 crepes.
Step 5: Get yourself a medium-sized baking tray or oven-dish and overlay the crespelle into the dish like a fan. Top with blobs of butter and grated parmesan. Place under the grill for 5-10 minutes until the cheese and butter have melted and the pancakes are golden.
Step 6: Top the crespelle with fresh dill and parsley.
Step 7: Serve up the ricotta and spinach crespelle, and drizzle with the harissa butter. Enjoy warm!
Top Tips!
- You can make the pancake batter up to 24 hours in advance and store it in the fridge.
- Make sure to use a non-stick pan so your crespelle don't stick! The first pancake may not look the best, so don't lose hope, keep going.
- Preheat the grill so you get uniform cooking.
What to do with leftovers
Storage: You can either prepare all the elements in advance (pancakes and filling), store them in the fridge, and then assemble just before eating a day before. If you have leftovers once made, store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating: to reheat, place the crespelle in an ovenproof dish and warm under the grill for 5-10 minutes! You can optionally put them in the microwave too!
FAQs
For sure, you could do a ricotta and marinara filling, ham and cheese, mushrooms and prosciutto, or anything you've got in your fridge as long as you've got some kind of creamy element to bind it all together!
Absolutely, you could add cheddar cheese or Emmental.
Yes, this is another traditional way of serving them!
More recipes you might enjoy!
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Cheesy Crespelle
Ingredients
For the batter
- 240 ml milk
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 2 medium eggs
For the crespelle filling
- 150 g spinach wilted and chopped
- 250 g ricotta drained of any excess liquid
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 100 g grated mozzarella
- 1 lemon zest
For garnish
- 6 teaspoon salted butter
- 2 tablespoon grated parmesan
- Parsley
- Dill
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and flour. Whisk until smooth. You want the batter have a pourable consistency, almost like thick cream. So feel free to add more milk if too thick, or more flour, if too runny.
- Place a non-stick frying pan/skillet on medium heat and add a teaspoon of salted butter. Circle the butter around the pan to cover the base, then scoop a ladle of the batter into the centre of the pan and gently swirl it around to even out the pancake. Fry for 2-3 minutes until golden and patchy, then flip and fry on the other side for another minute until golden and patchy. Set aside on a plate and repeat for all 6 pancakes.
- Next up, make the ricotta spinach filling by combining the chopped wilted spinach, ricotta, dried oregano, minced garlic, grated mozzarella, zest of a lemon, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Taste and season accordingly.
- Place a cooked pancake down on a clean surface or chopping board and add ⅙ of the ricotta filling into one quarter of crespelle. Fold the pancake in half, then in half again, forming a quarter-fold or handkerchief-style fold. Repeat for the other 5 crepes.
- Get yourself a medium-sized baking tray or oven-dish and overlay the crespelle into the dish like a fan. Top with blobs of butter and grated parmesan. Place under the grill for 5-10 minutes until the cheese and butter have melted and the pancakes are golden.
- Top the crespelle with fresh dill and parsley.
- In a small bowl, combine the harissa paste, lemon juice, and melted butter. Stir and season accordingly.
- Serve up the ricotta and spinach crespelle onto plates, and drizzle with the harissa lemon butter. Enjoy warm!
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