As promised in my post about Poschiavo here is the recipe for the delicious cheese stuffed buckwheat crepes we enjoyed for lunch at the lovely Hotel Albrici. In the Swiss canton of Graubunden where I tried them the crepes were made using stone-ground buckwheat flour from the Mulino Aino I’d visited that same morning. They were stuffed with delicious organic cheese from the village and baked in a wood burning oven. They were divine. Just a few kilometers south across the border in Italy’s Valtellina these are made with the region’s famous Bitto and Casera cheese and they’re called Manfrigole. I took some buckwheat flour home to try them out. Here they are, a perfect recipe to have in your arsenal for the coming colder months of the year…

The Buckwheat crepes 

Spread with a Mornay type sauce made with the local cheese

Cut into rounds and dotted with Bitto or Casera cheese from the Valtellina

And baked for half an hour or until the cheese has melted to a beautiful golden brown

Buckwheat Crepes

2014-10-23 08:56:15

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Ingredients

1. 200 ml milk
2. 2 eggs
3. 60 grams buckwheat flour
4. 40 grams white flour
5. salt, pepper, nutmeg
6. 1 T butter for frying

Instructions

1. Make a thin batter by whisking together all of the ingredients except the butter. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Heat a crepe pan over high heat and when it is hot add half the butter. When it starts to bubble, turn the heat to medium and pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the pan, swirling it around to evenly distribute. Cook until lightly browned on the bottom and set on the top and then flip over and briefly cook the other side. Remove to a warm plate and continue to make crepes with the remaining batter, adding the rest of the butter to the pan as needed.

Adapted from from Mulino Aino

Adapted from from Mulino Aino

Susan McKenna Grant https://www.susanmckennagrant.com/

Manfrigole

2014-10-23 09:20:51

Serves 4

These cheesy crepes are a satisfying meal served with a green salad and a glass of red wine from the Valtellina. The crepes can be made ahead, stuffed and then frozen to bake later. This recipe also calls for ground bresaola, the air dried beef that is a Valtellina specialty but I prefer to leave it out for a vegetarian version.

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

1. 1 recipe Buckwheat crepes (see above)
2. 600 grams whole milk
3. freshly grated nutmeg
4. 200 grams butter
5. 125 grams flour
6. 100 grams grated Bitto cheese
7. 100 grams grated Casera cheese from the Valtellina
8. 100 grams grated grana padana (or parmigiano reggiano)
9. 200 grams ground bresaola (optional)
10. 30 grams bread crumbs
11. 50 grams Casera cheese cut into small cubes

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
2. In a sauce pan bring the milk to a boil.
3. Add the butter then whisk in the flour and the nutmeg.
4. Stir over a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken then remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese and the bresaola if using.
5. Stir until the cheese has melted and you have a smooth consistency.
6. Spread the cheese mixture over the crepes and roll them up.
7. Cut each crepe into 1 inch pieces and lay the pieces on a lightly buttered baking dish.
8. Top each one with a sprinkling of bread crumbs and then a small cube of the cheese.
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Notes

1. If you can't find Bitto you can try substituting fontina, gruyere, emmenthal, beaufort or comte.
2. For the Casera you can substitute a young fontina, a young cheddar or other young cow's milk cheese.

Adapted from La Mia Cucina: Ricette e tradizioni di Montagna by Bruno Corvi

Adapted from La Mia Cucina: Ricette e tradizioni di Montagna by Bruno Corvi

Susan McKenna Grant https://www.susanmckennagrant.com/