Savory French Crepes
A savory ham and mushroom crepe smothered in a creamy cheese sauce is a magnificent French crepes recipe. These thin pancakes are often made with sweet fillings such as the crepes suzette, but they can be transformed into an array of savory meals.
This recipe is one of the most popular French pancake filled with ham and mushrooms in a creamy sauce.
It was created by the chef Marcel Lefèvre and now part of the Picardy cuisine.
Ficelle, meaning string in English is the name given to this tasty pancake or crepe and it is a good hearty dish for your family or for entertaining.
The ham should be a good quality such as a piece that you would boil or bake yourself but you can buy good boiled ham in most places nowadays.
Do not buy the thin wafer like ham as it will not quite be the same.
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📖 Recipe
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Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."
Savory French Crepe ~ Ficelle Picarde
Ingredients
- 150 gr /5.2 ounce/1¼ cups plain flour
- 3 eggs
- 500 ml /1 pint/2 cups milk
- 4 slices of cooked ham - a good quality ham is best for this
- ½ lb /250 gram mushrooms peeled and chopped finely
- ½ lb /250 gram shallots or onions finely chopped
- 2 ounce/50 gram butter
- 250 ml double cream
- 3 oz /75 gram grated Gruyère cheese
- 1 teaspoon of mustard Dijon or grain, as preferred - optional
Instructions
- Make the pancake batter by beating the eggs, flour, milk and salt together and leave half an hour. You can use a mixer/processor for this if you want.
- Make your pancakes and keep them warm until you have your filling ready.
- Melt the butter in a pan and gently fry the onions or shallots until soft but not browned.
- Add the chopped mushrooms and fry gently for another ten minutes.
- Remove pan from heat and add two tablespoons of thick cream to the pan, mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the mustard, if preferred, at this stage, to spice up the mixture.
- Take each of your pancakes and put a slice of ham and then a tablespoon of the mushroom and onion mixture onto each one, roll up and place in a warm ovenproof dish.
- Put some cream over the pancakes and sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for about ten minutes in a hot oven until cheese has melted and turned a golden brown.
- Your Ficelle Picarde's are now ready to serve.
- French crepes recipes don't get any better than these!
Loved it, tweaked it, or not your "cup of tea"... I’d really love to hear how it went for you.