Growing Chefs! Ontario Gâteau de Crêpes aux Légumes

Gâteau de Crêpes aux Légumes

This delicious seasonal vegetable dish can be served warm or cold. Feel free to substitute the vegetables for what is in season. There are a lot of different components to the dish; to make it easier, you can make the crepes and cook the vegetables up to two days in advance.
Difficulty
Intermediate
Yield
Serves 6

For the crêpe batter:

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour2/3 cup milk2/3 cup water3 eggs3 tablespoons butter, melted1/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled and julienned1 pound asparagus, sliced into coins1 shallot, finely diced1 pound cremini mushrooms, finely chopped2 cloves garlic, minceed1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped6 tablespoons butter2 cups Swiss cheese, grated

For the custard:

Ingredients
1 cup cream cheese, room temperature4 eggs3/4 cup heavy cream1/4 teaspoon nutmeg Pepper to taste Salt to taste

To serve:

Ingredients
1 head leaf lettuce3 tomatoes, sliced
Equipment
Chef's knifeCutting boardPeelerMeasuring cupsMeasuring spoonsParchment paperNon-stick pan sprayCheese graterThermometerWhiskLoaf panNonstick panFlipper spatulaLadleBaking sheetDish towel

Get Organized!

Gather your mise en place; get together all of the equipment needed for the recipe and gather your ingredients.

Get Prepped!

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure out flour, milk, water, eggs, and salt for crepes. Melt butter for crepes.

Peel the carrots, and finely julienne them into matchstick shapes about 3 centimetres long, and 3 millimetres thickness.

Remove the woody stem from the asparagus, and finely chop the asparagus into thin coins.

Cut the shallot in half from tip to root, and remove the skin. Cut off the tip, and make cuts from tip to root, leaving the root end intact. Finely mince the shallot across the cuts.

Remove the skin of the garlic, and finely mince.

Cut the mushrooms into a very fine mince, including the stems.

Remove the parsley and thyme leaves from the stem, and finely chop the herbs.

Grate the swiss cheese.

Measure out the cream cheese, eggs, cream, and nutmeg for the custard.

Get Cooking!

Mix together the flour with the milk, water, eggs, melted butter, and salt. Let sit at least 30 minutes for the crepe batter to hydrate.

Cook the crepes by adding a ladleful of batter (about ½ cup) into a nonstick pan, and cooking on both sides over low heat. Stack the crepes on a plate until ready to use, or if doing ahead, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge.

In a nonstick pan, saute the carrots with 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Place into a bowl to cool with half of the parsley, mix together.

In the same pan, add two more tablespoons of butter, the garlic, and the shallot. Cook until shallot is softened, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, and the thyme, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until mushrooms are softened and the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl to cool.

In the same pan, lightly saute asparagus over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper, about 2 minutes. Mix together with the rest of the parsley, and place into a bowl to cool.

Mix together the cream cheese, cream, eggs, nutmeg, pepper and salt with a whisk until smooth.

Spray the loaf pan with nonstick spray, and carefully line with parchment paper. Spray the loaf pan again once lined with nonstick spray.

Line the bottom of the loaf pan with a crepe, and place another four crepes down, one on each side, with the edges overhanging.

Mix together the carrots with ½ of the cheese, and place in the bottom of the loaf pan. Pour with about ⅓ of the custard mixture, until the custard covers the carrots. Place a crepe overtop of the mixture.

Add the mushroom mixture, and another ⅓ of the custard mixture, until the mushrooms are covered. Place another crepe overtop of the mixture.

Mix the asparagus with the last of the cheese, and add the mixture to the pan, and the last ⅓ of the custard on top. Wrap the overlapping edges of the crepe overtop, and if they don’t completely cover the vegetables, add another layer of crepes on top and carefully tuck them down the sides.

Place the loaf pan onto a baking sheet and cook for one hour and fifteen minutes, until the custard is set and puffy.

Let the loaf cool in the oven for 10 minutes, and then another 20 minutes on the counter before serving. If serving cold, let it cook completely.

Remove the loaf from the pan, carefully sliding a thin knife along the sides of the loaf pan. Unmold the gateau, and place on a platter lined with lettuce leaves. Garnish with fancy sliced tomatoes.