Ratatouille Crepes

With the holidays just around the corner and so many delicious and tempting foods to try, we seem to just throw calories to the wind this time of year. At least in our house we do. This is one of my favorite recipes. Almost no fat, a delicious explosion of flavors, and light, but unique enough to serve to company. And then you can serve them all those rich temptations for dessert:)

In the morning, before I head to work, I make the crepe batter and chop the ingredients for the Ratatouille and cook. Then I make my marinara sauce. While the sauce cooks, make the crepes. With a little multi-tasking, it's not too time consuming...and well worth the effort.

Ratatouille Crepes
adapted from a recipe in Cooking Light

1 large eggplant chopped
2 medium zucchini chopped
4 roma plum tomatoes chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 shallots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 450

To prepare filling:

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper
Toss it around to coat

Spread vegetable mixture in an even layer on cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt, and just a drizzle of olive oil.

Bake at 450 for 35 minutes stirring half way through.

Transfer vegetable mixture to bowl to cool. Stir in basil & parsley.

Mix in 3 TBS Marinara Sauce



Crepes:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh basil, minced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

In a food processor, blend ingredients for 10 seconds. . Cover and refrigerate the batter in the refrigerator for one hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep up to 48 hours refrigerated.

Heat a crepe pan or small non-stick pan, lightly coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Gently whisk the batter. Lift the pan from the heat and pour in 1/8 cup of batter, tilting and rotating the pan to coat the bottom surface. Cook for 30-40 seconds and lightly browned on edges. Loosen the edges with a spatula and flip the crepe over, then cook the other side another 15 seconds. Turn the crepe onto a tea towel and cover with parchment paper, until cool and ready to fill. Repeat with remaining batter, laying them all out so they can cool. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator or freeze them for up to two months. If freezing, I like to place a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper between each crepe until I'm ready to thaw them out. Once thawed, gently peel apart.

To Assemble:

Spoon 3 TBS of Ratatouille in center of each crepe. Fold sides over to overlap. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese if desired. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with farro and edamame, garden salad and some leftover meatballs. Enjoy!

Butternut Sage Manicotti

Since I tried my hand at making baked manicotti last year, it's become pretty regular fare at our house. Depending on what I have on hand will determine it's filling. I had some butternut squash that I wanted to use up, so along with these light and tender manicotti shells that are made cooking a batter to form a pasta like crepe, this was a delicious and easy meal to prepare. As I made my crepes I roasted the squash, so it was ready just about the time my crepes had cooled. Before I assembled the manicotti I popped all the ingredients into the Cuisinart and gave it a couple of pulses to combine it well. I decided to top my manicotti with marina sauce, but you could also drizzle with sage butter sauce over assembled manicotti as well and bake.



1 butternut squash, diced and roasted with olive oil, rosemary, sage, savory and
thyme.
3 Italian sausage, cooked -casings removed
1/4 cup shallots, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 tsp nutmeg
18 oz ricotta cheese
fresh sage leaves
sea salt, ground pepper
marinara sauce
shredded mozzarella

Peel and dice butternut squash into cubes. Place on parchment or foiled lined cooking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and herbs. Roast for 30-40 minutes until squash is carmelized and just tender.

In the meantime, as the squash roasts, sautee Italian sausage meat with garlic, shallots, sea salt & ground pepper.

Prepare your filling.

-18 oz Ricotta cheese
-4 oz mozzarella cheese
-handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
-1 egg
-10 fresh sage leaves, diced

When the squash is finished roasting, combine the squash, sausage mixture, ricotta cheese filling, nutmeg in your food processor. Pulse until just creamy.


Make your crepes.

*Homemade Crepes for Manicotti. Recipe by my friend Maryann at Finding La Dolce Vita

-1 C flour
-1 C milk
-1 egg
-pinch of salt
-tsp ground sage leaves

Beat together all ingredients. Make one crepe at a time, pouring the batter into a hot crepe pan using a shot glass as a measurement.

Move the pan around to form a nice thin crepe. Turn only once, then cool on a floured towel. When the crepes are cool you can fill them with your cheese, squash and sausage mixture.. top with marinara and plenty of shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Enjoy!