Today I want to take you to France with a traditional dish: Ficelle Picarde. It is a dish from Picardy in northern France, consisting of a savoury crêpe filled with mushrooms and ham, covered with either cream or béchamel sauce and cheese and then broiled. It is pure comfort food, something I really need during these cold and rainy days. There are a few variations, as many recipes use cream or crème fraiche to top the crêpe, while others use béchamel… I chose the latter as I like how soft it keeps the crêpes. The recipe is very simple and doesn’t require any exotic or hard to find ingredients, yet it will take you straight to France, a place I miss dearly. Bon appétit everyone!
Ficelle Picarde
Ficelle Picarde - a delicious savoury crêpe filled with mushrooms and ham from the French region of Picardy.
Ingredients
Crêpes
- 200 gms – 1 ½ + 1 tbsp flour
- 2 eggs
- 30 gms – 2 tbsp melted butter
- 330 ml – 1 ½ cups milk
- Butter for cooking
Filling and Assembling
- 300 gms – 10 oz. mushrooms sliced
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 150 ml – 2/3 cup white wine
- Salt to taste
- 6 slices ham
- 180 gms – 6.5 oz. Emmental shredded
- 330 ml – 1 ½ cup béchamel sauce
Instructions
Crêpes
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Put all the ingredients in an electric mixer and blend for a couple of minutes until your batter is smooth.
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Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
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Take a non stick frying pan and put it on the fire. When hot add ¼ tsp of butter and a ladle of batter by swirling the pan so the batter coats the base of the pan. You don’t want to make the coating too thin. About 2 mm – 0.08 inches thick will work nicely. When the surface of the crêpe dries up, it is time to flip it over. Do so by using a plastic spatula to loosen its sides first and then flip it over. Cook it for a minute more, then remove it from the pan and keep it aside. Repeat this till your batter is over.
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Filling
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Prepare the béchamel sauce following my tutorial. Keep it aside.
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Sauté the shallot in the extra virgin olive oil for a minute.
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Add the sliced mushrooms and mix well.
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Add the white wine and season with salt. As soon as the alcohol from the wine evaporates, put the fire off.
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Assembling
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Mix 2 tbsp of béchamel sauce with the mushrooms.
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Put 1 slice of ham in the middle of each crêpe. Top with 1/6 of the mushroom mixture.
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Roll the crêpes and put them on a greased baking dish.
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Broil it in the oven at 180°C – 355°F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
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Serve warm.
It may be warm and sunny on this side of the planet, but this dish is making me hungry all the same.
Mouthwatering!
Oh my, what a perfect comfort food dish for the very wintry weather we are feeling here in Adelaide right now. Very yum!