Recipe from Gather by Georgeann Brennan
The original recipe is made with spinach, mushrooms and a parmesan based sauce. Trying to keep it to as many Eatwell ingredients as I could, I used butternut squash instead of mushrooms. I had loads of chard in the house, so I used that instead of spinach. I also had a bunch of grated gruyere leftover from Thanksgiving so I switched that for the Parmesan.
For the Crespelle:
3/4 cup Flour
1 cup Whole Milk
2 Eggs
Pinch of Salt
2 TB Butter, for making the crespelle
Pour the milk into a mixing bowl, and very slowly whisk in the flour being careful not to let lumps form. Stir in the salt, and then the eggs whisking well until a thin batter forms. In an 8” pan, non-stick usually works best, melt 1 tsp butter and heat over medium-high heat. When it forams, pour 2 TB of batter, quickly tilting the pan from side to side to spread the batter evenly, creating a very thin layer. Cook about 1 minute until the edges curl and a few bubbles form. Carefully flip over and cook the other side until golden, about a minute.
For the filling:
1 bag Spinach or 1 bunch Chard, wash well, leave whole
1/2 to 1 bunch Garlic Chives, finely chopped
1/2 Butternut Squash,peeled, roasted, cut into 1” cubes
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Pinch of Nutmeg
Bring a pot of water to boil. Turn the heat off and put in the greens. If you are using chard, put the stem side down first to give it a bit more time, then submerge the rest. You will have to do this in batches, unless you are using a very large pot. Only blanch until the greens turn bright. Put into a large strainer to drain and cool. If you feel you cooked them too long, plunge them into cold water then strain. Once cool enough squeeze as much liquid out as you can, then chop. Squeeze again. Put the greens and the garlic chives into a large bowl, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and the nutmeg, and mix well. Add the butternut squash and mix again. Use your hands, they will make this job much easier.
For the Sauce:
2 1/2 TB Unsalted Butter
2 TB All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cups Whole Milk
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne
Pinch of Nutmeg
3/4 cup Gruyere Cheese
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When it has melted, remove from the heat and whisk in the flour to make a roux, or paste. Return the pan to the heat and slowly drizzle in the milk, whisking it in thoroughly to prevent anty lumping. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to whisk from time to time, until the sauce has thickened. Add the Gruyere to the sauce and mix. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the sauce into the vegetable mix
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Butter a gratin or baking dish. Take a crespelle and lay it out in the baking dish and fill with about 1 TB of filling. Roll carefully, then slide to the far side. Repeat until you have used all of the crespelle. Pour the remaining sauce over the crespelle and bake for 10 minutes. Pull them out and grate over some Parmesan cheese, slide the dish under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, until the top is golden brown, crispy and delicious!