Chef Juliette
Choux Rouges à la Flamande
Fine-cut red cabbage, russet apples, butter, sugar, nutmeg, and vinegar share one covered cocotte, cooking gently until the leaves gleam garnet and the apples soften without disappearing.
Culinary Explorer
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Crêpes aux Épinards
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2138, Crêpes aux Épinards, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Butter-dried spinach folded with its own weight of Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943) paste, then cooked into tender green crêpes with bronzed edges, ready for beef, veal, or ham.
Side Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•45 min total
Yield8 small crêpes (4 servings)
Crêpes aux Épinards (spinach pancakes) teach a strict little truth: spinach must be dry before it meets the batter. Parboiling softens it, but dessécher, drying it over heat in butter, gives the crêpes their tender body instead of a wet, custardy middle. You aren't chasing a paper-thin crêpe here. These are small savory green cakes, bronze at the edges and soft within, built to catch the juices of beef, veal, or ham.
The source gives no yield because a garnish cook made as many as the joint required, using a small omelet pan or deep tartlet moulds in repetition. Here it becomes eight cakes for four people, cooked in one skillet and held briefly in a low oven. The moulds are brigade scaffolding and can go; the parboil, the butter-drying, and the exact equal-weight fold with the prepared paste from Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943) are the dish and stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Weigh the spinach only after it has been squeezed and desséché. Raw leaves tell you nothing useful because water lies. If liquid appears on the plate while the spinach cools, return it to the pan and dry it once more. Ça se rattrape. This is the step that matters most.
Crêpes aux Épinards belong to the French grand-kitchen garnish repertoire rather than a single province: they accompanied a relevé, a substantial presentation of beef, veal, or ham at the formal roast table. Their surprising hinge is Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943), an English roast preparation absorbed into the French canon and used here as the binding structure for spinach. Despite their name, these are not thin Breton crêpes, but compact savory cakes made to hold their shape beside carved meat and drink its juices.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh spinach leaves
Quantity
11 loosely packed cups (2.6 L / 340 g)
large stems removed and leaves well shredded
prepared Yorkshire pudding paste
Quantity
about ¾ cup (180 ml / 190 g) Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943), adjusted to exactly equal the cooked spinach by weight
prepared according to its own entry
unsalted butter
Quantity
5 tablespoons (75 ml / 70 g)
divided
fine salt
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g)
freshly ground white pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
freshly grated nutmeg
Quantity
⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.25 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh spinach leaveslarge stems removed and leaves well shredded | 11 loosely packed cups (2.6 L / 340 g) |
| prepared Yorkshire pudding pasteprepared according to its own entry | about ¾ cup (180 ml / 190 g) Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943), adjusted to exactly equal the cooked spinach by weight |
| unsalted butterdivided | 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 70 g) |
| fine salt | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) |
| freshly ground white pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
| freshly grated nutmeg | ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.25 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide 4-quart (4 L) saucepan
- •Fine colander and clean kitchen towel
- •Digital kitchen scale
- •9 to 10-inch (23 to 25 cm) omelet pan or skillet
- •Thin flexible spatula
Instructions
- 1
Shred and parboil
Bring a wide saucepan of water to a strong boil. Lower in the well-shredded spinach and parboil it for 45 to 60 seconds, just until every ribbon has collapsed and turned bright green. Drain at once, cool briefly under cold running water, then gather the spinach in a clean kitchen towel and wring firmly until no more water falls. It should weigh about 190 g, but record the actual weight because that number governs the paste.
- 2
Dessécher in butter
Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) of the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, spreading the ribbons across the pan. Dessécher for 6 to 8 minutes, turning and separating the spinach until the pan leaves no wet trail and the leaves wear only a satin butter sheen. If water still beads in the pan, raise the heat slightly and keep turning. If the butter begins to brown before the water is gone, lift the pan off the heat, lower the flame, and continue gently. Ça se rattrape.
Listen to the pan. Wet spinach hisses sharply; properly dried spinach turns quietly in the butter. - 3
Match the paste
Transfer the spinach to a plate and let it cool for about 5 minutes, until warm rather than hot. If liquid gathers underneath, return the spinach to the skillet and dry it for another minute before proceeding. Weigh out exactly the same amount of prepared paste from Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943), expected to be about ¾ cup (180 ml / 190 g). Fold the spinach and paste together just until evenly combined; beating would make the finished crêpes heavy.
- 4
Portion the crêpes
Wipe the skillet clean and set it over medium-low heat. Melt enough of the remaining butter to coat the floor generously. Spoon in three scant ¼-cup portions, about 45 ml or 45 to 50 g each, leaving room between them. Ease each portion into a round about 3 inches (8 cm) wide and a little under ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Keep the layer even so the centre sets before the butter browns too far.
- 5
Brown and turn
Cook the crêpes for 3 to 4 minutes, until the undersides are butter-gold with bronze patches, the rims look set, and the upper surface has lost its wet shine. Slide a thin spatula underneath each one and turn it decisively, then cook the second side for 2 to 3 minutes. If a crêpe tears, nudge the pieces together while the second side is still soft and leave it undisturbed for another minute; the paste will bind again as it sets.
- 6
Hold and serve
Transfer the cooked crêpes to a baking sheet and hold them uncovered in a 200°F (95°C) oven while you butter the skillet and cook the remaining batches. Keep them in one layer, because stacking or covering traps moisture and softens their browned edges. Serve two per person beside carved beef, veal, or ham, close enough to catch the meat juices without being drowned in them. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The listed time begins with the prepared paste from Yorkshire Pudding (For Beef Roasts) (No. 1943) ready to use. Keep that preparation whole; this recipe only weighs and folds it.
- •The equal-weight ratio is the backbone of the dish. Weigh the spinach after parboiling, squeezing, and butter-drying, then match that finished weight with paste. Measuring the raw leaves would count water as spinach.
- •Frozen spinach is an honest pantry substitute when fresh leaves are tired. Thaw one 10-ounce package (285 g), squeeze it fiercely, skip the parboil, and begin with the butter-drying step; weigh the paste against the spinach afterward.
- •Keep the heat moderate. These crêpes are thicker than ordinary crêpes, so their centres need time to set before the butter bronzes the outside. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
Advance Preparation
- •The spinach can be parboiled, squeezed, seasoned, and desséché a day ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate; let it lose its chill before weighing and folding in the paste.
- •Do not leave the spinach and paste mixed overnight. The spinach can release water while the flour mixture continues to thicken, spoiling the tender balance.
- •The finished crêpes can be cooked up to 4 hours ahead. Cool them in one layer, cover and chill, then reheat on a baking sheet at 350°F (180°C) for 6 to 8 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 100g)
Calories
220 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
80 mg
Sodium
460 mg
Total Carbohydrates
14 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
6 g
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