This recipe is part of the Made–To–Order Recipe Series. The Made–To–Order Recipe Series introduces a standard recipe with countless potential variations, along with several suggested preparations to choose from. The standard recipe will equip you with the blueprint and inspiration to customize the recipe to your taste and preferences. After making one of the variations from The All Purpose Kitchen, I encourage you to put your own spin on the recipe and make it yours, Made–To–Order. For an in depth description of the crêpe making process, how to fill crêpes, and how to store crêpes, head over to the Crêpes Made–To–Order Recipe.
When it comes to breakfast, there are few combinations more classic than egg and cheese. The two ingredients marry together seamlessly in sandwiches, scrambles, casseroles, and of course crêpes. The pairing is rich, salty, tangy, and undoubtedly comforting. A hearty breakfast of eggs and cheese will keep you full, energized, and ready to tackle the day ahead.
Eggs and cheese may be a breakfast staple, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that these crêpes are only a breakfast dish. Filling a crêpe with egg and cheese is always a delicious choice, no matter the time of day. I am a huge advocate of breakfast for dinner, and besides there’s nothing about these ingredients that inherently makes this a breakfast recipe.
While bacon is a quintessential addition to this flavor profile, I personally prefer to add spinach. With that said, if adding bacon sounds better to you, I would certainly never fault you for it. (Take a look at the Crêpes Made–To–Order Recipe. The idea here is to make the recipe your own.) Nevertheless, adding spinach to the egg and cheese balances the richness with bright vegetal flavors and subtle bitterness; and not to mention, offers a vegetarian option. So make these savory crêpes, and then choose from one of the sweet crêpe recipes below for dessert — your guests will thank you.
For more crêpe variations check out these recipes:
- Crêpes Made–To–Order Recipe
- Crêpes with Fresh Berries and Maple Syrup
- Crêpes with Nutella and Banana
- Crêpes with Brown Sugar and Bourbon Peaches
- Parmesan Crêpes with Pesto, Sun–Dried Tomato, Mozzarella and Prosciutto
- Crêpe Cake with Maple Buttercream
The Process
If cracking an egg on top of your crêpe sounds daunting, you have nothing to worry about. Crêpes are thin enough to conduct the heat needed to gently cook the egg all the way though, while also providing just enough insulation to allow for a substantial range of time in which the egg is properly cooked. It’s a surprisingly flexible process that yields delicious results!
After flipping the crêpe, crack the egg slightly off–center directly over the crêpe.
Use your spatula to break the yolk and swirl the egg around one half of the crêpe.
Sprinkle a pinch of salt and black pepper over the egg, followed by the grated cheese, and finally the sautéed spinach.
Fold the bare half of the crêpe over the fillings and continue to cook for 1 minute. Flip the crêpe over, and cook for 1 more minute to apply heat from the opposite side and finish cooking the egg. And that’s all there is to it — if you can crack an egg over a pan, you can make an egg–filled crêpe!
Crêpes with Egg, Cheddar and Sautéed Spinach
Ingredients
For The Batter
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, plus more for cooking crêpes
- 1 cup (5 oz) All–Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Egg
- 1¼ cups Whole Milk
For The Filling
- 2 tablespoons Extra–Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Shallot, sliced thin (optional)
- 8 cups Baby Spinach
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 8 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 8 Eggs
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- For the batter: Microwave butter in 20 second intervals until melted; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the egg and milk until uniform. Sift about ½ of the dry ingredients mixture through a fine–mesh strainer over the milk mixture; whisk together until a few lumps remain. Sift remaining dry ingredients over the batter; whisk until a few lumps remain. Add the melted butter and whisk until smooth. Set batter aside while preparing ingredients for filling.
- For the filling: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in 12–inch non–stick sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add half of shallots, if using; half of spinach, and half of salt. Cook, stirring constantly until about ¾ of spinach is wilted. Remove pan from heat and continue stirring until all of spinach is wilted. Transfer sautéed spinach to paper–towel–lined plate. Repeat process with remaining olive oil, shallots, spinach and salt. Shred cheddar cheese on large holes of a box grater; set aside.
- For the crêpes: Set a 12–inch non–stick skillet over medium–low heat for 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium; melt ½ tablespoon butter until bubbling subsides and butter begins to smell nutty, 2 minutes. Ladle ¼ cup batter in center of pan; lift pan off heat and tilt in circular motion to disperse batter over surface. Cook until bottom of crêpe is golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Flip crêpe; crack 1 egg slightly off–center directly onto crêpe. Using spatula, break the yolk and swirl egg around one half of crêpe. Sprinkle pinch of salt and pepper over egg, followed by about ⅛ of cheese, and ⅛ of spinach. Fold bare half of crêpe over filling; continue to cook for 1 minute. Flip crêpe over; cook for 1 minute. Serve immediately or hold in 200 °F oven until ready to serve. Continue cooking crêpes, adding more butter to pan as needed.
Notes
- Low–fat or dairy–free milk can be substituted for the whole milk.
- If using salted butter, omit the salt from the batter.
- The batter can be cooked right away, but will develop even more delicious flavor if allowed to rest refrigerated overnight.
- Batter, spinach and cheese can be prepared ahead of time for faster crêpe service.
- Cooked and unfilled crêpes can be stacked and cooled to room temperature; store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for 1 month. To reheat, stack crêpes, cover with a damp paper towel, and heat in microwave until warm, about 30 seconds. Continue with step 4 in a non–stick skillet over medium heat to fill and serve crêpes.
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