Baked Herbed Blintz

I tried a blintz recipe few days ago and somehow managed to turn it into a crepe: I poured all the batter into one big frying pan - the crepe was too thick to be folded into envelope. This time I used a 8.5" pan and was patient enough to divide the batter into 4 portions. Instead of frying the blintz again, I baked them until the top was nicely browned.

We were both very happy with this. There's so much possibilities with the filling, and sauce to serve. I may make it a sweet blintz next.

Ingredients:
(serve 2)

Filling

For some reason I roasted two bell peppers for no reason a few days ago, not to mention the left over Ricotta. This cut down the preparation time considerably. I prepared the filling the night before knowing that Adrian was leaving home early the next morning. It always helps to have plan.

• Red and yellow bell pepper
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• Homemade ricotta cheese
• Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Rub bell pepper with olive oil and sea salt. Bake at 180C until bell peppers collapsed. Peel the skin, remove seeds and juices. Sliced into wedges. Take just enough of what you need and chopped into cubes.
2. Mix roasted bell peppers with the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust with sea salt if necessary.
3. Cover and store in refrigerator until ready for use.

Crepes

The crepe batter too was prepared the night before. It's quick an easy. Besides basil and parsley, coriander and tarragon would be a good mix too. You may want to add the chopped herbs just before frying: some of the basil leaves were browned the next morning.

• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup miso soup
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon pure sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley and basil, chopped

Whisk the ingredients together to mix. Taste and adjust with sea salt if necessary.

The Assembly

Here's another ingredient good to have handy: pesto. Alternately a herby tomato sauce may do the trick.

• Parmesan cheese, grated
• Rocket pesto
  

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Brush a 8.5" skillet with just enough butter to coat the pan. When the pan is well heated, remove from heat and pour about half of 1/4 cup of batter into pan. Tilt and swirl the pan to coat the bottom with a thin even layer of batter. Return to heat.
3. Fry the bottom till browned and the top set. Remove to a plate with cooked site up. Repeat to make 4 more crepes.
4. Lightly coat a baking tray with butter. Take 3 - 4 spoonful of ricotta filling and place it to the center of each crepes. Fold the edges into the middle to make blintzes. Place blintzes seam site down, in one layer, onto the prepared tray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
5. Drizzle with pesto and garnish with basil leaves to serve.