Torretta di Crêpes di Primavera - Spring Time Crêpes Tower

There are moments in life when plenty is not enough. When you have everything you can possibly want and imagine, but when you feel you need more of everything. Of course, for some people that's a permanent state of being and is called greed. For Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon, however, things are a bit different. For because their lives never really began, and can thus never end, their moments of grief are many. And when one such Moment appears (round the corner of the back door, usually, greeting the merry company with a sonorous "coo-coo"), the hunger required to satisfy it is boundless.
And so it was that one day, Celestial Dragon was visited by one such Moment. It had orange skin and a green beard. It's hair was blue and its nails red. It was a gorgeous Moment, full of sheen and shine. But, as it is with all Moments, it left Celestial Dragon wanting for more than that. And so Celestial Dragon got up from his Chair of Cumulus and went to Divine Cherry. The latter was in the garden, playing frisbee with Small Perfect Cloud. Or rather, Divine Cherry was throwing the yellow disk at Small Perfect Cloud who, still not understanding the rules of the game, thought that it was supposed lick it in the air while performing a triple backward somersault. It was an amusing sight, especially the tine tongue that never quite made it to the rim of the frisbee. Be that as it may, Celestial Dragon went up to Divine Cherry and told her what had happened. Immediately, the loving Divine Cherry, seeing food in everything, hatched a cunning plan. She namely took the frisbee as her inspiration and made crêpes. And because Celestial Dragon had had a Moment, she made a mountain of crêpes. As an endless line of crêpes is, I'm sure you'll agree, rather inconvenient for serving it on a plate, Divine Cherry stapled them up one on top of the other. And in order to bind them so that they wouldn't fall and topple over, she filled the spaces between each crêpe with a succulent concoction she had devised especially for the occasion.
And it came to be that Celestial Dragon was presented with a Spring Time Crêpes Tower – now available in your local pantheon: get it while the stock lasts.

Prepare the crêpes following the recipe of Giuseppina, which I report here with no changes:
Crêpes
-150 g plain flour
- 2 medium eggs
- 350 ml milk
- 50 ml water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 30 g ghee
Beat the eggs and the salt with an electric beater, add the flour and liquids in alternation and continue to beat the mixture. Let it stand for half an hour. Heat in a nonstick skillet a bit of ghee, pour a ladleful of batter, turn the pan to spread the mixture well so as to obtain a thin crêpe. Cook on one side, lift with a wooden spatula and cook the other side. Repeat the process until all the batter is used.

Filling:
- Half a leek
- 100 g of mangetout
- 100 g of peas
- 100 g of green beans
- 200 g cream cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Wash and cut the ends of the green beans and the mangetout. Cut into 2-3 cm long pieces and steam with the peas for 7-8 minutes, they bust must be slightly crunchy. Besides, in the meantime, cut the leek into thin rings and cook them it in a pan with a little olive oil until soft. When the other vegetables are cooked, add them to the leeks and let them cook in the pan a few minutes in the pan, season with salt. Transfer the vegetables into a bowl and mix them with the cream cheese. If too dense, add a drizzle of olive oil and a little of milk.

Pesto – personal quick version
- A bunch of basil
- 15-20 g of pistachios
- 15-20 g almonds
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmiggiano
In a food processor chop the nuts. Add the basil with a generous round of olive oil and pulse. Mix with the grated Parmiggiano.

Mounting
Lay a crêpe on a baking sheet, spread with the filling and pour in drops 2-3 teaspoons of pesto sauce, cover with another crêpe and repeat the process until all filling is finished (keep some pesto). Finish with a crêpe. Sprinkle with a little of grated parmiggiano. Put everything in a hot oven (180C) for 10-15 minutes, just long enough to heat the whole thing and let the flavors combine. Take it from the oven and pour the last 2 to 3 teaspoons of pesto on the surface.

Ricetta in Italiano:

Preparare le crêpes seguendo la ricetta di Giuseppina, che qui riporto senza variazioni:
Crêpes
-150 g farina
- 2 uova medie
- 350 ml latte
- 50 ml acqua
- 1/2 cucchiaino sale
- 30 g burro chiarificato
Sbattere le uova e il sale con le fruste, aggiungere la farina e il liquidi alternandoli e continuando a sbattere. Lasciar riposare il composto per mezzora. Scaldare in una padellina antiaderente un po' di burro, versare un mestolino di pastella, girare la padella in modo da spandere il composto per bene e per ottenere una crepe sottile. Cuocere da un lato, sollevare con una paletta di legno e cuocere dall'altro lato. Ripetere il procedimento fino ad esuarire tutta la pastella.

Ripieno:

- mezzo porro
- 100 g circa di taccole
- 100 g circa di piselli
- 100 g circa di fagiolini
- 200 g formaggio cremoso
-  olio evo
- sale e pepe
Lavare e tagliare le estremita' di fagiolini e taccole. Tagliarli a pezzetti lunghi 2-3 cm e cuocerli a vapore con i piselli per 5 minuti, devono rimanere sodi e leggermente croccanti. A parte, nel frattempo, tagliare a rondelle sottili il porro e farlo apassire in padella con un filo d'olio. Quandole altre verdure sono pronte, aggiungerle al porro e farle insaporire qualche minuto in padella, salare. Trasferire in una ciotola le verdure e mescolarle al formaggio cremoso, in caso fosse troppo denso aggiungere un filo d'olio a crudo e un po' di latte.

Pesto salva-dispensa
- un mazzetto di basilico
- 15-20 g di pistacchi
- 15-20 g mandorle
- olio evo
- 2 cucchiai di parmiggiano grattato
In un food processor tritare la frutta secca. Aggiungere il basilico con un generoso giro di olio di oliva. Mescolare con il parmigiano grattato.

Montaggio
Adagiare su una teglia una crêpe, spalmare il ripieno e versare a goccie 2-3 cucchiaini di pesto, coprire con un'altra crêpe e ripetere il procedimento fino ad esaurimento del ripieno (conservare un po' di pesto). Terminare con una crêpe. Spolverare con un po' di formaggio grattuggiato. Passare in forno caldo (180C per 10-15 minuti), giusto il tempo di scaldare il tutto e far unire i sapori. Tirare fuori dal forno e versare gli ultimi 2- 3 cucchiani di pesto sulla superficie dell'ultima crêpe.

Questa ricetta partecipa all'MTChallenge di Marzo!