Cauliflower Crepes Sicilian Style.
This dish has humble origins in rural areas, where limited resources had to make up for the lack of meat. At that time, housewives invented this dish using available vegetables from the fields, eggs from free-range chickens, and stale bread to create delicious crepes.
Sicilian breadcrumbs are a staple in almost every traditional Sicilian dish, and they couldn’t be missing here, follow the embedded link to see how it’s done.
Great as a side dish or appetizer, ideal for vegetarians.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Frying, Boiling
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 263.49 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.55 (g) of which sugars 4.71 (g)
- Proteins 11.17 (g)
- Fat 9.98 (g) of which saturated 2.50 (g)of which unsaturated 6.85 (g)
- Fibers 4.32 (g)
- Sodium 547.00 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 lb Cauliflower (any variety)
- 2 Eggs
- 1.5 cups breadcrumbs (seasoned Sicilian style, see recipe)
- as needed Vegetable oil
- as needed salt
- 1 leaf bay leaf
- as needed pepper
Tools
- Frying Pan
- Pot
- Bowl
- Colander
Preparation of Sicilian Style Cauliflower Crepes
Choose a nice fresh cauliflower, any variety will do, from white to green or purple. Remove the outer leaves and trim it. Wash it thoroughly, changing the water multiple times.
In a pot, bring water to a boil with a pinch of salt and the bay leaves. Once it boils, add the cauliflower florets, cover, and let cook for 10 minutes.
Drain and leave in the colander for at least 1 hour.
Once it has cooled down, add the eggs
Mix until the cauliflower has absorbed all the breadcrumbs.
Heat some vegetable oil in a pan.
Once hot, use two moistened spoons to form quenelles.
and fry until they appear more than golden brown.
This should be the right color, turn them over very gently. The good thing about these crepes is that they should be soft, otherwise, if we add too much breadcrumbs, they would be harder but very dry.
As they cook, place them on a paper towel, and then serve at room temperature.
Here are the Sicilian Style Cauliflower Crepes.
Storage
You can store the Sicilian Style Cauliflower Crepes mixture in the fridge for up to 2 days, then mix it and cook. Once cooked, they can be stored for up to 2 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer
Cauliflower Crepes Sicilian Style
What can I use instead of cauliflower?
You can also use broccoli, zucchini, and eggplant.
Can I avoid frying?
Yes, you can place the crepe quenelles directly on parchment paper and then on a baking sheet and bake in a fan oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes
Can I use an air fryer?
Not as the recipe is written, but if you increase the crepe consistency by adding breadcrumbs and form a fritter, then you can use it at 400°F for about 12 minutes.
