The CHESTNUT CREPES WITH PUMPKIN, SAUSAGE AND PORCINI BÉCHAMEL are an ideal first course for Sunday family lunches or festive autumn days, when you want to present something tasty, beautiful and seasonally appropriate to astonish and satisfy your guests. It’s a fairly simple dish, with steps accessible to everyone and that can be prepared ahead of time for the joy of us cooks, always pressed for time.
These crepes combine several typical autumn ingredients (chestnuts, pumpkin and mushrooms), blending and enhancing their characteristics. Chestnut flour makes the crepes tasty and slightly sweet, the pumpkin adds further sweetness and creaminess, while the mushrooms bring their wonderful aroma to the dish. Naturally, the sausage gives a burst of flavor without overpowering the other elements, completing them, and the béchamel accompanies and envelopes without cancelling individual tastes. Follow the recipe step by step and you won’t be disappointed.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 2 eggs (medium, at room temperature)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (00)
- 1.8 oz chestnut flour (about 3/8 cup)
- as needed butter
- 3 1/2 cups pumpkin (peeled and seeded)
- 9 oz luganega sausage
- 3.5 oz provolone (cubed)
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- Half glass white wine
- 1 sprig rosemary
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup water
- as needed salt
- as needed black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 porcini mushrooms
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- as needed salt
Tools
- 1 Frying pan 7-inch
- 1 Immersion blender
- 1 Bowl
- 2 Saucepans
- 1 Baking dish
- 1 Sauté pan
Steps
The preparation of the CHESTNUT CREPES WITH PUMPKIN, SAUSAGE AND PORCINI BÉCHAMEL is really simple and within everyone’s reach.
Lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Add the sifted flours, the milk little by little, and stir well until you obtain a smooth batter without lumps.
Once you have the batter, let it rest for 10 minutes so it can thicken slightly.
Heat well a non-stick 7-inch pan, lightly butter it and when it reaches the right temperature pour half a ladle of batter and, with a rotating motion of the wrist, spread it across the whole surface.
Cook about 30 seconds per side over low heat.
Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan if necessary. Once ready, cover them with plastic wrap and set aside.
Remove the sausage casing and crumble it. In a pan heat a drizzle of oil, add the sausage and the rosemary and brown for 10 minutes, breaking it up further with a fork. Deglaze with the white wine and once the alcohol has evaporated continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
Then remove it from the pan, keeping the oil in the pan.
Remove the pumpkin’s skin and seeds. Then slice it into slices about 3/8 inch thick and cut these into cubes. Place them in the pan where you cooked the sausage and let them absorb the flavors.
Add two cups of water, season with salt and pepper and let the pumpkin soften. It will take about 15 minutes.
At this point add the sausage back in and let the flavors meld until you obtain a relatively dry mixture, without letting the pumpkin fall apart. Let cool.
Place the milk in a small saucepan with a pinch of salt and let it warm.
In a separate small saucepan melt the butter without browning it, add the flour and, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon, toast it until it turns lightly golden.
Add the hot milk and, stirring continuously, cook until it begins to thicken.
Meanwhile, in a small pan with a drizzle of oil cook the porcini mushrooms with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes.
Once cooked, transfer them into the béchamel and blend everything with an immersion blender.
Lay the crepes on the work surface and fill them with the pumpkin mixture, sausage and cubes of provolone. Roll them into cannelloni and place them in a buttered baking dish.
Cover with the porcini béchamel, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and bake in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F (180°C) for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve the CHESTNUT CREPES WITH PUMPKIN, SAUSAGE AND PORCINI BÉCHAMEL piping hot.
