NETTLE MANFRIGOLE

Manfrigole is a traditional dish from Valtellina, northern Italy. They are a kind of buckwheat crespelle (crêpes), with a cheese and bresaola filling, or local seasonal ingredients.

It was originally made in order to use the stale bread, because in old times it was not daily made and it was kept for months, especially in mountain environments.

But let’s back to the present. Spring is here, and I found nettles, hops, bladder campion and dandelion.

I decided to start from nettles, then. They have a rough and strong taste, which goes well with cheese and buckwheat. Perfect for waming up in the first days of spring, still a little bit chilly.

This is a very easy recipe, revised from traditional one. I will be able to get rid of stale bread and leftover cheeses in the fridge. I used three different cheeses: one aged with a strong taste, one more delicate stringy cheese and the creamy goat-cheese that adds a sour note.

Nettle manfrigole recipe

Ingredients: stinging nettles, stale bread, milk, eggs, cheeses, all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, dried tomatoes, butter and bechamel sauce

For 4 persons

Ingredients for the crepes:

100 gr all purpose flour
100 gr buckwheat flour
2 eggs
300 ml milk
20 gr di butter
One pinch of salt

Ingredients for the filling:

Young nettle tips, 3-4 big handfuls (once cooked they reduce in volume)
1 white stale bread soaked in milk
Aged tasty cheese, more or less 80 gr.
Stringy cheese, more or less 80 gr.
1 goat-cheese
1 egg
2 dried tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

For the oven cooking:

béchamel sauce
grated parmesan and butter flakes to gratinate in the oven

Directions:

Prepare the crepes batter and let it sit for half an hour.

Soak the stale bread in milk for 10 minutes. Blanch nettles in salt water, then squeeze and finely chop them. Cut the cheese and dried tomatoes in small pieces. Mix bread, nettle, cheese and tomatoes in the food processor, and don’t forget salt and pepper.

Now it’s time to prepare the crepes. Once ready fill them with a cheese filling layer, roll them and slice them in 2-3 cm thick rolls.

Put the rolls next to each other on the oven-dish. Pour some béchamel sauce to avoid them drying while cooking. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and butter flakes. Put them in the oven at 200°C (392°F) for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve them hot, accompanied with a nice glass of red wine!