Buckwheat crêpes stuffed with spinach and ricotta

Method
Prep:50min  ›  Cook:25min  ›  Ready in:1hr15min 

1. Bring the quark, cottage cheese and ricotta to room temperature and set aside.
2. To make the crêpes, sift the flours and 1 teaspoon of salt together. Whisk the egg and egg white together in a small bowl with 450 ml (16 fl oz) of water until well blended, then gradually add the mixture to the flour, whisking well. Set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Rinse the spinach and remove any tough stalks, then put it into a saucepan, with the water still clinging to the leaves. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat until it is wilted, then drain well.
4. When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water and chop it finely. Mix the cheeses and spinach together and season with the lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. To cook the crêpes, heat a small nonstick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Stir the batter and check that it is thin enough to pour: if not, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. When the pan is hot, wipe it with kitchen paper dipped in sunflower oil, then pour in 2-3 tablespoons of the batter and tilt the pan until the batter coats the base. Cook the crêpe for 1½ minutes, or until the edges begin to brown and curl up.
6. Loosen the edges gently with a thin spatula, then turn the crêpe over and cook it for a further 20-30 seconds. Do not be tempted to flip the crêpe too soon as the batter will stick to the pan, and take care not to overcook it: if the crêpe dries out it will be difficult to fold over.
7. Cook seven more crêpes the same way, regreasing the pan when necessary. Either fill and serve each crêpe as you go along or, if you want to serve everyone at once, pile the crêpes up between sheets of kitchen paper and loosely cover with foil.
8. To serve, spread 2-3 tablespoons of the filling along the centre of each hot crêpe, then fold one side over the other. Serve the crêpes sprinkled with paprika and accompanied by tomatoes garnished with basil.

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Low-fat tip

Substituting quark and cottage cheese for some of the ricotta makes this filling lighter than the traditional one.