Today I want to show you how to prepare flavorful vegan radicchio and mushroom crepes that are light and delicious. The base crepes are made with chickpea flour and are topped with a light bechamel made with oil and plant-based milk. Simply delightful.
They are not difficult to make, though there are several steps involved, but they are worth it, especially for the holiday table: they will be perfect to offer your family at Christmas, for example. You can bake them in the oven or in the air fryer as you will see later, which is very convenient if the oven is already occupied with other dishes.
I recommend preparing the bechamel, mushrooms, and radicchio in advance, even a couple of days ahead. You can also prepare the crepes the night before but not more than that, as they tend to dry out and become less flexible, as happened to me, in fact, one broke while rolling it. But no one complained, we devoured them with gusto! Let’s get cooking…
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8 crepes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Seasonality: Autumn, 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 indeed need to prepare 8 crepes.
The bechamel is also made with my recipe, here is the procedure: Light Vegan Bechamel, but below the quantities, as we need to make a smaller batch.
- 0.85 oz flour
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (4 teaspoons)
- 1.25 cups plant-based milk (unsweetened or unflavored)
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste salt
- 1/2 radicchio
- 14 oz mushrooms
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (2 teaspoons)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (about 2 tablespoons)
- to taste spices (to taste: thyme, sage, marjoram…)
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- Total points = 23 WW points
- Points per crepe = 3 WW points
Tools
Here are the main tools for preparation. You can use either the oven or the air fryer. If using an air fryer, you need to use a tray, even aluminum, that fits well into the basket.
- Pan
- Hand Whisk
- Air Fryer Tray
- Air Fryer
Steps
As already explained, you need to follow this recipe: Vegan Crepes with Chickpea Flour to the letter, you will obtain 8 crepes like these:
For the bechamel, you need to follow this recipe: Light Vegan Bechamel but with the quantities indicated above, as we need a smaller portion, just over half of the recipe. To the bechamel, add, along with salt and nutmeg, 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast for flavor, and keep the rest of the nutritional yeast for assembling the crepes. Here’s the bechamel:
Clean the radicchio from the harder parts and cut it into strips. Save a little raw to decorate the final dish if you like. Chop the onion and sauté it with a teaspoon of oil along with the spices for a couple of minutes. Add a little water if it dries out too much. Add the radicchio, a bit of salt, and cook until the radicchio has wilted. Turn off the heat and let it cool.
For the mushrooms, proceed as for this recipe: Sautéed Mushrooms, then cut the garlic in half and sauté it in a teaspoon of oil.
Add the well-cleaned and sliced mushrooms and cook them. If they release a lot of water, continue until it has fully evaporated. Add some salt, turn off the heat, and let cool.
Place the crepes on the work surface and spread a tablespoon of bechamel on each.
Then add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, add the radicchio, and finally the mushrooms. Make sure to reserve most of the bechamel and some nutritional yeast for the next step.
Put a bit of bechamel at the bottom of the tray. Then gently roll each crepe and place it in the tray so that they are touching each other. Spread the remaining bechamel well on the crepes, especially on the edges, so they don’t become too dry.
Sprinkle the surface of the bechamel with the remaining nutritional yeast and we are ready to cook the crepes!
OVEN COOKING
Preheat the oven to 392°F and place the tray on the lower rack for 15 minutes, then move it to the top rack for another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
AIR FRYER COOKING
I also tried cooking the crepes in my air fryer. In fact, you see that 6 were in the oven tray because I put 2 in a crock and cooked them in the air fryer for 6 minutes at 320°F and then another 6-7 minutes at 356°F. Perfect this way too!
Here are the vegan radicchio and mushroom crepes ready to be served! What an aroma… I decorated them with some raw radicchio I had saved, and they look really impressive served this way. If you want to serve them at Christmas, they will also look beautiful served on Christmas plates.
Okay, appearances matter, but the most important thing is that they are truly delicious, flavorful, filling, and light. What more could you want?
These vegan crepes received full marks here at home, but above all, I loved them. I hope you do too; if you make them, let me know if you liked them and leave me a comment below…
Enjoy your meal!
By Giovanna Buono
Preparation and Storage
The bechamel can also be prepared a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. If it ends up too thick, you can add a splash 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 any problems. Of course, keep 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’ll find it difficult to roll them. Make them and separate them with paper towels on a plate; you can leave them in the turned-off oven until preparation.
You can also freeze the crepes in suitable trays once cooked and cooled. Then place them in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Check with a fork that they are well heated inside.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is nutritional yeast?
In this recipe, you will also find nutritional yeast, which is deactivated yeast rich in vitamin B12. It is widely used in vegan cooking because it gives dishes a cheesy flavor. To learn more, read here: Nutritional Yeast: What it is, how to use it, and why! You can omit it, but in that case, add spices to taste to give more flavor to the final dish.
