Crespelle alla Fiorentina is a comforting dish of crepes stuffed with ricotta and spinach and topped with bechamel and marinara. These Florentine Crepes are the perfect starter course for a traditional Tuscan Christmas.
About the Recipe
Crespelle alla Fiorentina aka Florentine Crepes originates in Florence in the Tuscan region of Italy. This dish is often served for Christmas as a starter instead of a pasta course. Growing up, my nonna would make Baked Manicotti, which is very similar. Sometimes, we would also make the same dish with cannelloni pasta instead of crepes.
Crespelle alla Fiorentina consists of Italian savory crepes with a spinach and ricotta filling topped with both bechamel sauce (besciamella) and marinara sauce. Many recipes suggest folding the crepes into triangles, but you can also roll them into a tubular shapes the way I do. The components are layered in a baking dish and baked to bubbly perfection in the oven.
Ingredients
Crepes– See my recipe for Crespelle for more details.
Filling– The filling is composed of ricotta cheese, chopped cooked spinach, an egg, parmigiano reggiano cheese and nutmeg.
Besciamella– A basic Italian bechamel sauce requires flour, butter, whole milk and a dash of nutmeg.
Tomato sauce– Use your favorite marinara recipe or jarred sauce of liking. You can also follow my recipe which uses olive oil, garlic, basil and tomato puree.
Recipe Steps
First, make the tomato sauce. Heat garlic and red pepper (optional) in a pot, and toss in basil (1). Add tomato puree and a little water, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until flavorful (2).
Next, make the bechamel. Melt butter in a pot, sprinkle over flour and whisk vigorously to create a roux (3). Gradually whisk in warmed milk, making sure there are no lumps (4-5). Simmer the besciamella until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (6).
Next, prepare the filling. Blanche the spinach in salted boiling water and drain (7). Place the cooked spinach in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out all excess water (8). Then, finely chop the spinach (9). Mix together the ricotta, spinach, an egg, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper (10).
When each of the components are ready, preheat the oven to 375F. Spoon in a couple tablespoons of filling into a crepe (11) and roll into cylinder (12). Line the baking dish with a thin layer of bechamel sauce and place stuffed crepe on top (13).
Fill and roll 5 more crepes and place into the baking dish (14). Spoon the remaining bechamel sauce on top of the crepes (15). Dollop the tomato sauce on top of the bechamel and grate over parmesan cheese (16). Bake in the oven until cooked through, bubbling, and lightly golden brown (17).
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- To save time, use leftover tomato sauce or your favorite jarred sauce, see as you only need a small amount for this recipe. You can use a little more or less sauce depending on your preference.
- If you’re bechamel ends up a little lumpy, you can save it by straining it through a cheesecloth.
- If you’re using a standard American ricotta, strain the ricotta in a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth for 30-60 minutes to remove excess water.
- Make sure the spinach is as dry as possible before mixing with the ricotta in order to avoid a watery, bland filling.
Manicotti are a type of crespelle (Italian crepes) typically stuffed with a ricotta cheese mixture and topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Your crepes may be gummy or rubbery from overmixing, under-resting, or from making the crepes too thick. Overmixing the batter can cause too much gluten to develop. Under-resting the batter will not allow enough time for the gluten to relax. Make sure to rest the batter at least 15 minutes before cooking. The crepes might be too thick if the batter is too thick and requires additional milk. It’s also important not to put too much batter in the pan. ¼ cup of batter is enough for a 10 inch pan.
Crepes may stick to the pan if they have not cooked enough on the first side and are not ready to flip yet. It’s also important to grease the pan to avoid sticking. Try a nonstick pan if you’re still having issues.
Related Recipes
- Lasagna Bolognese
- Roasted Eggplant Parmesan
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Peas and Favas
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Crespelle alla Fiorentina
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Crespelle alla Fiorentina is a comforting dish of crepes stuffed with ricotta and spinach and topped with bechamel and marinara.
Ingredients
1 Batch of Crespelle
Tomato Sauce
(use ¼ cup to ¾ cup of your favorite basic tomato sauce, or follow my recipe below)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1–2 garlic cloves
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup (240ml) tomato passata (I used Pomi strained tomatoes)
- 4–6 fresh basil leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Ricotta Spinach Filling
- 8 oz (225g) baby spinach
- 1 cup (240g) ricotta cheese (cow’s or sheep’s milk)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp (10g) grated Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan)
- Dash of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Bechamel Sauce (Besciamella)
- 2 cups (475ml) whole milk
- 2 tbsp (16g) all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter
- Dash of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Parmigiano reggiano, for topping
Instructions
- Make the tomato sauce. Add olive oil, whole garlic cloves and red pepper flakes to a small pot. Turn heat to medium. When garlic sizzles for about 15-30 seconds, add tomato puree and season with salt and pepper. Stir in ¼ cup of water, partially cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until thickened and flavorful. Adjust with additional water, salt or pepper, as needed. Cover and set aside. Skip this step if you’re using leftover or store-bought marinara.
- Cook the spinach. While the tomato sauce cooks, bring a large pot of water to boil. Season water generously with salt. Add spinach to boiling water and cook 2-3 minutes, until water returns to a boil and spinach is tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool. Place spinach in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze to wring out excess water. Finely chop the spinach.
- Mix the filling. In a bowl, stir together the chopped spinach, ricotta, egg, parmesan and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.
- Make the bechamel. Warm milk in a small pot. In another pot, melt butter over medium heat. When foaming, sprinkle flour over butter and whisk vigorously until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Gradually ladle in warmed milk, ½ cup a time, while constantly whisking. Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, similar to the thickness of a hot custard (between a pureed soup and creamy sauce). Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Coat an 8×8 inch baking dish with a thin layer of bechamel.
- Fill and roll the crepes. Lay crepe flat with the paler side facing up. Spoon in 2 ½ to 3 tablespoons of filling across the bottom third of the crepe. Fold short side of the crepe over the filling, and roll into a tubular shape (like manicotti or cannelloni). Repeat process, filling a total of 6 crepes.
- Bake the crespelle. Place stuffed crepes in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the remaining bechamel over the crepes. Spoon dollops of tomato sauce on top of the bechamel, as desired. You can use as little as ¼ cup of tomato sauce or up to the entire ¾ cup of sauce (I actually prefer more sauce than shown in photos above). Top with grated parmesan. Bake in preheated for 20-25 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Broil for 1-3 minutes for additional browning, if desired. Allow to stand about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy.
Notes
One half batch of crepes is just enough for this recipe, however, I recommend making the full batch in case your first couple crepes don’t turn out perfectly. You can also freeze any extra crepes.
If you double this recipe, use a full recipe for my crepes and bake in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
If you use a standard American ricotta cheese, I suggest placing the cheese in a fine mesh strainer lined with a cheesecloth, and draining for 30-60 minutes to remove excess water before preparing the filling.
If using mature spinach, trim the stems and blanche for about 4-5 minutes, rather than only 2-3 minutes.
You can use Pecorino romano cheese instead of parmesan.
As an alternative to rolling the crepes, you can spread the filling over half of the crepe, fold it in half and fold it in half again to form a triangle shape.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Crepes
- Method: Saute, Simmer, Boil, Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of tray
- Calories: 565
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 860mg
- Fat: 33g
- Saturated Fat: 18g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 25g
- Cholesterol: 225mg
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