Some time ago, not having radicchio available, I tried to make crepes with red cabbage and walnuts, and they turned out delicious. They are also light and vegan: the base crepes are made with chickpea flour, and everything is seasoned with a light béchamel with oil and plant-based milk.
The recipe is not complicated, just that you need to do various steps: you can prepare the crepes the day before while the béchamel and filling can also be made two days in advance. You can even freeze the béchamel, which is very convenient! So if you want to make them for the holidays, you’ll only need to assemble the baking dish on the day itself and bake, without stressing too much in the kitchen. In the notes at the bottom of the recipe, I explain these things better… Now let’s see how they are prepared.
Other vegan holiday dishes recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 crepes
- Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, Christmas
Ingredients
To prepare the crepes, I refer you directly to my recipe instead of rewriting everything, read here: Vegan crepes with chickpea flour. The recipe is for 8 crepes, and we need to prepare 8 crepes.
The béchamel is also made with my recipe, I leave you the procedure here: Light Vegan Béchamel, but below I will give the quantities of the ingredients as we need to make a smaller batch.
- 0.85 oz flour
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (4 measuring teaspoons)
- 1 1/4 cups plant-based milk (unsweetened or unflavored)
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste salt
- 1/2 red cabbage (about 10.5 oz)
- 1 onion
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (2 measuring teaspoons)
- 0.88 oz walnuts
- to taste salt
- Total points = 25 WW points
- Points for 1 crepe = 3 WW points
Tools
Here are the main tools for preparing crepes with red cabbage and walnuts.
- Hand Whisk
- Pan
- Small Pot
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Baking Dish
Steps
As already explained, you must follow this recipe: Vegan crepes with chickpea flour to the letter, you will get 8 crepes like these:
For the béchamel, you must also follow this recipe: Light Vegan Béchamel but with the quantities indicated above as we need a smaller portion, slightly more than half of the recipe.
Eliminate the tougher part of the red cabbage and slice onions and cabbage thinly. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion.
After a few minutes, add the red cabbage. Stir, add a little water and salt, and cover.
Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the cabbage is tender and dry, then turn off and adjust salt. Let it cool down.
First, toast the walnuts for a few minutes in a pan, then let them cool.
Place them on a cutting board and chop them with a sharp knife. If you want to use an electric chopper, be careful to pulse only, or you’ll end up with walnut flour in no time…
Place all the crepes on the work surface and spread a spoonful of béchamel on each.
Distribute the red cabbage and then the walnuts on all the crepes, ensuring to reserve most of the béchamel and some walnut pieces for the next step.
Put some béchamel on the bottom of the baking dish.
Gently roll up each crepe and place them in the baking dish so that they remain close to each other.
Pour the remaining béchamel over the crepes, especially on the edges. Put some walnut pieces on the crepes.
Preheat the oven to 392°F and first place the baking dish on the lower rack for 15 minutes, then move it to the top rack for another 10-15 minutes, until golden.
And here are our crepes with red cabbage and walnuts ready to be enjoyed.
They turned out really delicious, and in my opinion, they are an ideal dish even for Christmas. The Dutchman liked them, and I also made them with radicchio; they are good both ways. Try them and leave me a comment to let me know if you liked them!
Enjoy your meal!
By Giovanna Buono
Preparation and Storage
The béchamel can be prepared a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. If it becomes too hard, you can add a splash of milk and mix well with a whisk. It can also be frozen in a jar, if preferred. Then let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
You can also prep the vegetables in advance, up to two days earlier, without issues. Obviously, they need to be stored in the fridge.
For the crepes, I would prepare them no more than 12 hours in advance; otherwise, they tend to dry out too much and will be difficult to roll. Make them and place them separated by kitchen paper on a plate covered with plastic wrap: you can leave them in the turned-off oven until preparation.
Once cooked and cooled, the crepes can be frozen in suitable containers. Then leave them out of the freezer for about 15 minutes, and place them in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Check with a fork that they are well heated inside.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What other vegetables can I use?
As mentioned earlier, you can also use radicchio; a small one or half a large one should be enough. In my opinion, it will also be exquisite with kale…
Can I use classic crepes?
Of course, you can, with this recipe: Light Crepes, but classic crepes are made with eggs, so the recipe will no longer be vegan. And redo the WW points count!
