It is said that this recipe was born in the time of Catherine de’ Medici, when she married Henry II, king of France. We know that our Caterina “was a glutton” and even if there is no certainty that these delicious crepes were her idea, we can also believe it and fantasize about it. In this dish there are childhood memories, of Sunday lunches, of grandmothers who took an entire morning to prepare as many crepes as possible.
Florentine crepes are a simple dish but require quite a long preparation. They are nothing more than savory crepes filled with spinach and ricotta and put back in the oven with tomato and bechamel. There are those who close them in their pockets and those who prefer them rolled up. as far as the doses are concerned, as we know, grandmothers did a little eyeballing, mixed the ingredients and when they saw that the mixture had reached the right consistency they were good to go. I also often go by eye, but wanting to bring the recipe back here I tried to be careful about the quantities used, so as to transcribe them for you.
For the stuffing: 400g of already cooked spinach (drained and squeezed, approximately 300g) 500g of fresh ricotta (drained well of its water about 400g) 1 egg nutmeg to taste parmesan to taste (me about 40-50g) Salt and Pepper To Taste.
Squeeze the spinach so that it loses its cooking water. Then chop them finely with the mezzaluna or knife. In a bowl, mix the spinach with the well-drained ricotta, add the egg, a good grating of nutmeg, salt, pepper and about 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan. Mix all the ingredients well.
For the seasoning: a few spoonfuls of tomato puree 50g of flour 50g of butter 500 ml of milk salt, pepper to taste nutmeg to taste In a saucepan, bring the milk to a light boil, lower the heat and add the roux (liquid butter mixed with sifted flour). Stir to thicken slightly, not completely. Adjust the taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Assembly: spread each crepe with the ricotta and spinach mixture and wrap them around themselves as if they were cannelloni, or fold them into a handkerchief. Dirty a baking dish with some bechamel sauce and place your crepes in a row. Season with a few spoonfuls of tomato and cover with more béchamel and a good sprinkling of parmesan. Bake at 180° for 20 minutes.
