Crêpe of good hope

Whole wheat crêpes stuffed with thyme seasoned winter squash ragout

Paper thin sheet with a soft centre and crispy outside, is my idea of a perfect crêpe. Whether it is sweet or savoury, the above three criteria need to be met.

Since I am a vegetarian, the tough job was to find an eggless recipe that gave a flawless result. After months of working with several yolk alternatives (butter, whisked yogurt, cornflour and what not), I concocted something of my own. A simple, five-ingredient recipe that gives a result closest to my idea of an ideal crêpe.

The recipe is versatile, which means you can add sugar for sweet crepes and salt for savoury. The filling can range from creamy mushroom, spinach and ricotta to basil-strawberries and apple-cinnamon.  Once in a while, you can even spoil yourself by swapping whole wheat with all-purpose flour.

Whole wheat crêpes stuffed with thyme seasoned winter squash ragout

Ingredients for whole wheat crêpes

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt as per taste

Water for thinning

Method:

In a bowl, mix together whole wheat flour with milk, vegetable oil, salt and water to form a batter. The consistency of this mixture should be a little thinner that a typical pancake batter.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and brush it with oil.

Pour four to five tablespoons of crêpe batter on the griddle and tilt the pan in all directions till the mixture is evenly distributed.

Cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes and turn it over. Let it sit on the pan for ½ a minute more and remove from fire.

Ingredients for thyme seasoned winter squash ragout

1 cup squash (finely chopped)

½ cup onions (finely chopped)

½ cup tomatoes (finely chopped)

¼ cup eggplant (finely chopped)

¼ cup zucchini (finely chopped)

6 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)

3 teaspoon dry thyme

1 ½ cup tomato puree

6 cloves of garlic (minced)

Method

In a pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil and cook the squash for 4-5 minutes. Repeat the procedure with all the other vegetables, one by one.

Once all the vegetables have been cooked separately, mix them together in a pan and add minced garlic and tomato puree to it. Season it with salt and herbs.

Let this mixture simmer for 20 minutes and serve it with the whole wheat crêpe.