My mother is full-blooded Sicilian and always makes Christmas Italian food. We celebrated the Vigil and had 7 fish dishes. Since my children were not fans of anything more than shrimp, I made manicotti to add to the squid and octopus they didn't like. The crêpes and the fluffy cheese and spinach filling are sure to satisfy vegetarians as well.
Ingredients
- eggs: 4 piece
- salt: 0.25 tsp
- all-purpose flour: 2 cups
- ¼ cups milk: 2 piece
- butter: 0.25 cup (melted)
- vegetable oil: 1 Tbsp (or more if needed)
- frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry: 1 pack (10 ounce pack)
- ricotta cheese: 1 container (15 ounce container)
- cream cheese: 1 pack (3 ounce pack, softened)
- Parmesan cheese: 0.5 cup (grated)
- fresh parsley: 0.25 cup (chopped)
- green onion: 3 Tbsp (chopped)
- onion powder: 1 Tbsp
- oregano: 1 tsp (dried)
- salt: 0.5 tsp
- eggs, lightly: 2 piece (beaten)
- prepared marinara sauce: 2 cups (or as needed)
- mozzarella cheese: 1 cup (to taste, shredded)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Whisk 4 eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a bowl; gradually whisk flour into eggs, alternating with milk, to make a smooth batter. Whisk melted butter into batter; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
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Pour vegetable oil into a small bowl. Heat a small skillet over medium heat; brush skillet with vegetable oil using a pastry brush. Ladle in enough batter to lightly cover the bottom of the skillet, about 1/4 cup. Swirl skillet to cover bottom completely. Cook crêpe until it turns lightly golden brown on the bottom; flip and cook until other side has small brown spots. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the skillet with oil as needed to prevent crêpes from sticking; set cooked crêpes aside between layers of waxed paper.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
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Lightly mix spinach, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, green onion, onion powder, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 eggs in a bowl until filling is thoroughly combined.
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Spread 1 cup marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place a crêpe onto a work surface and spoon about 3 tablespoons filling, or more as needed, in a line down the center of each crêpe. Roll crêpe over filling and set into sauce in pan; repeat with remaining crêpes and filling, laying filled crêpes into pan. Spread remaining marinara sauce over filled crêpes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
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Bake in the preheated oven until bubbling and mozzarella cheese is melted and slightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes.
