Pink Crêpes with Cream Cheese Filling

Description

A really original starter! The beet flavour does not come through, but you will have these beautifully cerise-coloured crepes. As a starter, one is enough per person, with edible garnish, as the filling is rich. The recipe offers lots of interpretations: fold into a parcel and tie with chives or spring onions, OR make it into a sweet pancake with cinnamon-Sugar. The recipe is extremely easy.

Ingredients

• 1 medium fresh beet, washed, topped, unpeeled
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, very soft
• 1 cup milk

Filling

• 7-8 ounces cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons very finely chopped spring onions
• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup milk

6 servings Change size or US/metric Change to: servings US Metric 50 minutes 25 mins prep

Directions

1. Cook the beet until tender, and cool. When peeled, the beet I used weighed about 3 oz or 80/90 grams.
2. Cut up the beet and put in processor. Add the flour, salt, eggs and butter, and whizz.
3. First add 1/2 cup milk, then more, until you have a thin pancake batter consistency.
4. (The amount of milk might depend on how dry the beet was and the size of the eggs. If using smaller eggs you might need more than 1 cup milk).
5. Whizz in blender until very smooth. You'll have just under 3 cups liquid.
6. Pour into a jug or bowl, cover, and leave in fridge for at least 1 hour.
7. FILLING: Scrape the cream cheese into a bowl, and add all the flavourings except the milk.
8. Normally you will find the mixture too stiff to use as a filling, so add milk little by little, until you have a satisfactory consistency for a filling: easy to scoop out but not runny.
9. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
10. CREPES: Use a small crepe pan. The smallest I have is 6"/15 cm in diameter.
11. Heat over medium heat. If not non-stick, keep butter handy and grease pan with butter.
12. If the batter has thickened on standing, add a tiny bit more milk.
13. Use 2 - 3 tablespoons batter per crepe: you want to aim for thin crepes. Swirl the batter to the edges of the pan so the crepes are of even thickness.
14. Watch—and when the last raw swirl of batter on top starts to firm, turn crepe. Give it about 10 seconds on the other side, then slide out on to a plate.
15. Stack them on this plate as you continue.
16. You should get about 12 crepes if your pan diameter is 6"/15 cm.
17. The fillimg is enough for six of these crepes. If you wish to use all the crepes, double the filling ingredients.
18. Use the filling sparingly as it is rich. Fold crepe over. Decorate with a sprig of spring Onion and some parsley or salad leaves. A tiny bit of julienned carrots will also look good, or a few thinly sliced lemon rind strips.
19. Serve warm or at room temperature.
20. Leftover crepes can be covered and frozen.
21. *In this case cream cheese really is a better bet than a low-fat cottage cheese, as it makes a big difference to the taste.
22. If you wish to use a FLAVOURED cream cheese, that is fine. (I used the green onion flavoured one). One heaped tablespoon filling should be enough per crepe.