These crepes are easy to make, don't require a lot of weird or expensive ingredients, and are something a bit different for dinner. The crepes also are delicious. The crepes are "diabetic friendly," with limited carbohydrates, saturated fats, and whole grain in the crepe batter. Rather than having to hunt up and add a lot of spices to the turkey filling, I opt for inexpensive (well, relatively!) turkey breakfast sausage, which is already seasoned. The turkey sausage also is much lower in fat and calories than pork sausage. Plenty of onions, celery, and mushrooms complement the sausage. The crepes contribute a slight sourdough tang--meaning they have more flavor than traditional crepes--and are easy to make ahead and fill. I top the crepes with a mixture of light cream cheese and unsweetened applesauce, which bakes along with the crepes and, sprinkled of mild, nutty-tasting Swiss cheese, forms a rich, savory-sweet topping for the crepes. The crepes make a great dinner that is both special and comforting. Reheated, the crepes also are great for lunches later in the week. Enjoy!
Sourdough Turkey Sausage and Mushroom Crepes -- Serves 4+
16 ounces of turkey breakfast sausage
1/3 cup of chopped onion
2 - 3 tablespoons of chopped celery
4 ounces of sliced/chopped mushrooms
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of cold milk
4 - 6 sourdough crepes (see recipe below)
6 ounces of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1/4 - 1/2 cup of shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large non-stick skillet or chef's pan over medium heat. Crumble in the turkey sausage and saute the sausage for 5-6 minutes to partially cook it and break it up a bit more. Add the onion, celery, and mushrooms to the pan and saute the vegetables with the sausage for about 10 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables have softened. Sprinkle on the flour and mix it into the meat/vegetable mixture, stirring the flour into the mixture for a minute or two. Whisk in the cold milk and keep whisking gently until a sauce forms. Turn off the heat. Spritz a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and spread about a cup of the meat mixture on the bottom of the dish. Lay the crepes out on the counter and divide the remaining meat mixture evenly among the crepes, putting the meat mixture in the center of each crepe and spreading it out in a line down the center of each crepe. Fold the sides of the crepes over the filling and place the crepes, seam side down, on top of the filling in the casserole dish. In a small bowl or measure mix the cream cheese and applesauce until thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the crepes in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese evenly of the top of the cream cheese/applesauce mixture. Bake the crepes for 20-30 minutes or until a little crispy and spotty brown on top. Because the meat mixture is completely cooked before baking, you can cook the crepes for a little less time (10-15 minutes) if you prefer them more "blond" and soft rather than brown and crispy.
Sourdough Crepes
1 cup of sourdough starter
1 cup of white whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cups of milk (I use 1 percent)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of canola oil
Whisk all the ingredients together until blended. Heat a 7-8-inch skillet and pour enough batter in to just coat the skillet bottom--about 1/4 cup. It's easiest if you pour the batter on one side of the skillet, then pick up the skillet to swirl the batter around to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook the crepe until the top is barely set. Flip the crepe and cook it 30-45 seconds longer. Slide the crepe onto a plate and repeat the process with the remainder of the batter. You should have at least 6 good crepes and probably will have close to a dozen (some might not be "perfect," but they'll taste good, nonetheless). Stack the crepes with a piece of waxed paper between each crepe. You can make and refrigerate the batter and cook the crepes a day or two later, if you like. The cooked crepes also can be refrigerated for 2-3 days and pulled out and filled when you're ready. Leftover crepes are great for breakfast, slathered on top with jam, rolled, and topped with a bit of vanilla yogurt.
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