Dinner Tonight--Egg Crepes

Are you tired of cooking the same old thing? Are you looking for something different? Just a few simple ingredients can create a delicious meal, and these crepe-like eggs rolled around a cheesy filling make a perfect Lenten supper. This dish is very low in carbohydrates and gluten free. Next time you are wondering what to cook, why not give this dish a try?

Baked Egg Crepes
Inspired by a recipe by Giada De Laurentis
Makes 6  8-inch crepes
Serves 2


3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
Unsalted butter for frying pan, baking dish and for dotting crepes, about 3 Tablespoons
1/2 cup marinara sauce

Beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper in  a bowl.  Heat an 8" nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, and brush skillet with butter.

Pour about 3 Tablespoons of the egg mixture into the pan, quickly swirling to coat the bottom. Cook until the egg crepe is set, about 1 minute.  Turn crepe with small spatula or your fingers, and continue to cook for about 30 seconds.  Slide cooked crepe onto plate. Continue making and stacking crepes one at a time until the egg mixture is used, adding butter to pan as necessary.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter a baking dish large enough to hold all of the crepes without them being squashed together. Mix grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste into ricotta.  Arrange 1 egg crepe on work surface. Place 1/4 cup ricotta mixture in the center of the crepe. Roll up the crepe and place, seam side down, in baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining crepes and cheese. Dot surface with butter and cover with foil. Bake for about 15 minutes until heated through.

Before serving, remove foil, and spoon some marinara sauce over crepes.  Sprinkle with additional grated cheese if you like.  Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.

Testing 1-2-3

Since my personal cheffing days, I have been on the list of home recipe testers for a national food magazine. You know the one that deconstructs all of the recipes in order to reproduce them in painstaking detail. Sometimes helpful, other times boring.

This weekend I was testing a recipe for Cacio e Pepe, that quintessential Roman pasta dish. The problem for me in testing recipes is that one must make recipes exactly as written for obvious reasons--even if you don't agree with the methods or ingredients. But I do it for fun. I certainly don't receive any remuneration--not even a subscription to the magazine or website.

So I called L and J, with whom we have shared two trips to Rome and countless bowls of pasta, and asked them to come for dinner to help me test this recipe. I prepared the recipe as written, even though the method was awkward and additional ingredients were unnecessary. But all in all the taste was good and the Frascati served with it complementary.

In my humble opinion there are only four ingredients needed to make an outstanding Cacio e Pepe. They are authentic aged pecorino romano sheep's milk cheese; fresh, coarsely ground black pepper; good quality spaghetti; and pasta water.


My Recipe for Cacio e Pepe

While bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil, crush or coarsely grind 2 tablespoons fresh black peppercorns.

Ladle some hot water into your mixing/serving bowl to warm it, drain.

Cook 1 pound spaghetti until it is al dente. Lift the spaghetti from the pot with tongs or strainer and drop into the warm serving dish.

Quickly scatter about 1 cup of grated pecorino cheese over the pasta and most of the ground pepper, and toss quickly. As you toss, sprinkle in a ladle or two of hot pasta water to moisten and amalgamate all of the ingredients. You may need more water to make this happen. Add more cheese or pepper to taste.

Note: Some like to put about 1 cup of hot water in the serving dish whisking in the cheese and pepper then adding the hot pasta and tossing to coat thoroughly. Add more cheese and pepper to taste.

Serves 4 as a main dish