Passport & Plate - Cacio e Pere Crêpes
USA | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
crêpes:
2 large eggs (or if you prefer, 4 baby eggs)
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 cup of all purpose flour (does not need to be crêpe specific)
3/4 cup of whole milk
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of salt
filling:
1 fresh bartlett pear per friend.
ground black pepper
1 lb. of pecorino cheese
3/4 cup of creamy mascarpone
How to prepare this recipe1. First, you must gather close friends. This recipe is great at any time, but best in great company. Making crêpes is an event, and your friends should mentally prepare for their turn to flip and heroically catch each nearly formed crêpe.
2. Pour some wine or orange juice for your friends. Pass the glasses around. Now you're ready to begin.
3. Break two large eggs (or 4 baby eggs). Start whisking. Add the 3/4 cup of whole milk and butter. Whisk quickly and with confidence.
4. Sift the flour into another bowl, add the salt, and form a well in, moving the flour to the sides of the bowl with your hands.
5. Add about half of the eggs and milk into the well and mix it in. Add the rest of the eggs and milk and pass around the bowl until everyone has stirred and there are few lumps left.
6. Let sit for about an hour or two (highly recommended by a crêpe maker I met in Paris, and the internet).
7. While the batter is chillin', start on the mascarpone, pecorino, bartlett pear filling. Grate the pecorino, peel and grate the pears, and mix together with the mascarpone.
8. Go watch part of Miss Congeniality, maybe the Departed. Talk about life. Try not to eat the pecorino (or mascarpone!) I know, it's extremely tempting.
9. Get out some grapes. Eat some pecorino, it was too much anyways.
10. Back to work! Heat your pan, and melt a little butter on it.
11. Pour about 1/3 of a cup of batter into the pan, move the pan in the attempt to form a nice circular crêpe.
12. Leave for about 2 min, or until the edges look crispy and brown. Then prepare for the "Flip". Follow your instinct. Push the pan up and out and as the crêpe flies up in the air. Execute the "Catch".
13. Cook the other side for about 2 min.
14. Put on a colorful plate and fill with pecorino, pear, and mascarpone mix 'till your heart's delight. Add some black pepper for flavor.
15. Make and eat as many of these as you possible can. Repeat.
The story behind this recipeCacio e Pere Crêpes is a recipe for friends. On one of my very last days in Mexico City, before moving away and off to college, I made this recipe, invented it, messed it up, fixed it, and conquered it with friends. The goal was to make crêpes for my friends, have some wine, and thank them for being awesome. My ex-boyfriend and I were planning the gathering and got stuck in one of Mexico City's worst traffic jams.
Three hours later we made it to his house and everyone was happy to see us but slightly if not very confused. No crêpes, no wine... but we had time. That was it. We would make the crêpes together. We would talk and drink the wine while doing it. We would go to the supermarket.
And so we did. We searched the supermarket, whoever found the most ingredients first took the prize and got to choose what movie we'd see after dinner. The mascarpone and pecorino were wild cards, worth 20 points each, enough to get you in the lead. I ran through the aisles, eggs in hand (not the smartest of my ideas) and in less than 20 minutes we had our supermarket bags in hand.
I convinced everyone that this recipe was the ticket. My absolute favorite dish, Felidia's Cacio e Pere Ravioli, from my absolute favorite Italian cuisine, could be put into a crêpe! It was possible. All we needed were pecorino, pears and mascarpone cheese. We could pull it off. We could make the world's best Italo-French crêpes.
And so we did. We made a mess of the kitchen, each flipped a crêpe, slightly over-cooked one and ate one off the floor. We cheered for a whole variety of random things, and promised to keep in touch. We ate too, too many crêpes. I couldn't have asked for a better goodbye or a better recipe.
