The angry crêpe- Spinach crêpes stuffed with crab and prawns in a spicy and creamy tomato sauce
La crêpe est verte - Crêpes d’épinards farcies au crabe et crevettes dans une sauce épicée légerement crémeuse de tomates et herbes
In French, the expression “être vert” “to be green”, means to be mad. So we have a green crêpe today, a pretty mad and angry one. Then it got filled with crab and all of the sudden got much nicer.
Crêpe being a batter, you can add anything you like in it. After twisting the idea of flavoring the crêpe batter for a while, I added blended spinach, to give it some pretty color and nice leafy taste that goes perfectly with seafood. Everyone loves crêpes, they’re light, tasty and fun to make, the fun part is when you throw them up in the air to turn them around, and they land beautifully in your pan, or if you are clumsy on your feet.
So the other exciting part of making crêpe, if you are going to stuff them, is the filling. You can use your imagination to make the filling.
Our traditional one, you can get at any crêperie in France is the jambon-fromage (ham-cheese). If you ever go to Paris and don’t get the chance to go through Brittany, try a crêpe in the quartier breton (the Brittany quarter) close to Montparnasse. When I lived in Paris I loved going to Jocelyn, it’s a crêperie in that area that used to serve wonderful and authentic crêpes with lots of cider. I bet it’s still around.
Ingredients for 6 crêpes
for the crêpes
- 5 tbs frozen spinach, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp olive oil
- one pinch nutmeg
- milk
for the filling
- 12 large shrimps
- 2 king crab legs
- 1 tbs basil, chopped
- 1 tbs parsley, chopped
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tomatoes, chopped and diced
- 1 pinch chili pepper
- 2 tbs white wine
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 6 long chives
- salt and pepper
Preparation
The batter
In a mixing bowl, add flour, chopped spinach, egg, olive oil, nutmeg and milk. For the milk, add enough milk to make a thin batter but not too liquid, it needs to coat your spoon. Place the batter in a blender to make it smooth and homogenous. Let the batter rest for about an hour.
The seafood filling
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. add basil and parsley, stir to get the flavors out, then add tomatoes, crushed garlic, chili powder, white wine, salt and pepper. Stir and let cook for about 15 min until the tomatoes are cooked but not too mushy. Add unshelled shrimps and crab flesh, cook the fish mixture until shrimps turn pink. Add 2 tbs cream. Mix well and stuff the crêpes with the filling. Tie a chive around each crêpe to keep it folded and serve very hot.
Looks wonderful!