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 basic crepes are made with chickpea flour and everything is seasoned with a light béchamel made with oil and vegetable milk.
The recipe is not complicated, but there are several steps: you can prepare the crepes the day before, while the béchamel and filling can be made two days in advance. In fact, you can also freeze the béchamel, which is very convenient! So, if you want to make them for the holidays, you will just need to assemble the dish on the same day and bake it, without stressing too much in the kitchen. At the notes at the end of the recipe, I’ll explain these things better… Now let’s see how to prepare them.
Other vegan holiday dish recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 crepes
- Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, Christmas
Ingredients
To prepare the crepes, I’ll refer you directly to my recipe instead of rewriting everything, read here: Vegan Chickpea Flour Crepes. The recipe is for 8 crepes, and we indeed need to prepare 8 crepes.
The béchamel is also made with my recipe, I’ll leave the procedure here: Light Vegan Béchamel, but below I’ll provide the ingredient quantities as we need to make a smaller portion.
- 0.85 oz flour
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (4 measuring teaspoons)
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened or unflavored vegetable milk
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste salt
- 1/2 red cabbage (about 0.66 lbs)
- 1 onion
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (2 measuring teaspoons)
- 0.88 oz walnuts
- to taste salt
- Total points = 25 WW Points
- Points per 1 crepe = 3 WW Points
Tools
Here are the main tools for preparing crepes with red cabbage and walnuts.
- Whisk
- Pan
- Saucepan
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Baking Dish
Steps
As already explained, you need to follow this recipe: Vegan Chickpea Flour Crepes to the letter, and you’ll get 8 crepes like these:
For the béchamel, you also need to follow my recipe: Light Vegan Béchamel but with the quantities indicated above, as we need a smaller portion, just over half the recipe.
Remove the toughest part of the red cabbage and slice the onion and cabbage into thin strips. 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 the salt. Let cool.
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, otherwise you’ll get walnut flour…
Place all the crepes on the work surface and spread a tablespoon of béchamel on each.
Distribute the red cabbage and then the walnuts on all the crepes, making sure to reserve the majority of the béchamel and a few walnut pieces for the next step.
Place some béchamel at the bottom of the baking dish.
Carefully roll each crepe and place them in the dish so that they stay close to each other.
Pour the remaining béchamel over the crepes, especially around the edges. Add a few walnut pieces on top of the crepes.
Preheat the oven to 392°F and first place the dish on the lower rack for 15 minutes, then move it to the top for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
And here are our crepes with red cabbage and walnuts ready to enjoy.
They turned out really delicious and, in my opinion, are an ideal dish for Christmas as well. The Dutchman enjoyed them, and I also made them with radicchio; they are good either way. Try them out and leave me a comment to let me know if you liked them!
Bon appétit!
By Giovanna Buono
Preparation and Storage
The béchamel can also be prepared a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. If it becomes too thick, you can add a little bit of milk and mix well with a whisk. It can also be frozen in a jar if you prefer. Then let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
You can also prepare the vegetables in advance, up to two days before, without problems. Obviously, you must store them in the fridge.
As for the crepes, I would prepare them no more than 12 hours in advance; otherwise, they tend to dry out too much, and you will find it difficult to roll them. 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, you can also freeze the crepes in suitable containers. Then leave them out of the freezer for about 15 minutes and put 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 already mentioned, you can also use radicchio, a small one or half a large one should suffice. I think even with kale, they would be exquisite…
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 recalculate the WW points!
