To prepare our crepe cannelloni with mushrooms and fior di latte, let’s start with the crepes or crespelle, as you prefer.

In a bowl, pour the chickpea flour (or other type of flour), salt, water (not all of it, set aside 1/2 cup as we’ll add it slowly) and the whole egg.

Mix with a steel whisk or fork. Add the seed oil (in chickpea flour crepes it is necessary as it gives some elasticity to the batter), a few leaves of basil chopped very finely, and the remaining water, a little at a time, until you get a very fluid batter.

Cover the bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Now let’s work on the mushrooms. Clean them from soil and remove all non-edible waste parts. Cut them into slices about a quarter-inch thick and transfer them to a pan that should not contain oil or other fats.

Cover the pan and place it on medium-high heat. After about a minute, the mushrooms will have released part of their moisture which we will discard. Put the pan with the mushrooms back on the stove, cover, wait another minute, and then discard the water that has formed again; repeat this operation one more time. It is necessary that the mushrooms are dry, to prevent them from releasing water during the gratin, making the cannelloni soggy. Let them cool on a flat plate, well spaced, without covering them.

Now let’s prepare the sauce. In the same pan where we stewed the mushrooms, put the garlic clove in its skin and an abundant tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Roast the garlic and when it starts to sizzle, remove it and add the tomato sauce.

Stir well, lower the heat, add a small cup of water, and let it cook on the lowest burner on low heat, without covering the pan, for about 8/10 minutes to thicken it; at the end of cooking, add 2/3 basil leaves.

After the time has passed, add the mushrooms, salt just enough, and let it season, still on low heat and without a lid, for another 10 minutes. Everything should be dry, not liquid.

Cut the fior di latte into very small cubes (I chose it because it is drier than mozzarella and has a very delicate flavor; if you don’t like it, can’t find it, or want a stronger taste, you can use smoked provola, or other stringy cheese, as long as it’s dry)

Let’s prepare the crepes for the cannelloni.

Heat a non-stick pan of about 5.5-6.5 inches in diameter, without adding anything.

When it’s hot, add a thin layer of butter, let it melt, distributing it on the bottom of the pan, and then pour two generous tablespoons of batter.

Swirl the batter inside the pan to ensure it covers the bottom. Let it cook on medium-low heat (adjust according to the heat of your stove) for about a minute.

Flip the crepe to brown the other side, just for a few more seconds. If the crepe resists, it means it’s not yet perfectly cooked, and it will suffice to wait a few more seconds to flip it.

As the crepes are cooked, place them on a plate, one on top of the other.

To cook each crepe and prevent them from breaking, it will be necessary to add a thin layer of butter every time (with gluten flours, it will not be necessary to add fats in the pan to cook and flip them without problems).

Now let’s prepare the cannelloni.

Line a baking dish, large enough to hold them (they must absolutely not be overlapped) with parchment paper; or oil it or butter it and sprinkle with breadcrumbs (with or without gluten depending on the cases).

Place the crepes in front of you, side by side, and fill them with a tablespoon (not too full) of mushrooms, add some cubes of fior di latte, a bit of torn basil, and roll up the crepe to form a cannelloni, which we will transfer into the baking dish with the seam facing down. Continue until all the crepes are used.

We are ready for the gratin.

Before putting the baking dish in the oven, we can sprinkle our cannelloni with a few flakes of butter or a brush of seed oil and breadcrumbs, then let them gratin in the oven for about 5/8 minutes, or until they are more or less golden and the cheese has melted (do not prolong the gratin because we risk drying out the crepes too much, while they should remain soft inside and out.

Bon appetit