I’m actually not a crêpe person but this creates a great moment of reminiscence for me. I worked in Paris restaurants for a number of years. When I’d go for a walk between lunch and dinner services, there were always crêpes cooking on street corners and in open markets. I always liked the ham and cheese ones because they felt like a French version of a grilled cheese in a diner – the ultimate street food. Here, I cheat and make it with store-bought crêpes to make this super easy. You can make a batch of the cheese sauce ahead and warm it up inside folded crêpes. I have also eaten it folded in flour tortillas….
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 25 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 crêpes |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyère
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus additional to garnish
- Kosher salt
- 8 to 10 crêpes, warmed
- 8 to 10 slices Black Forest or French bistro ham
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until you smell the flour and butter cooking; the mixture will be pale blonde in color, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the bay leaf and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the milk and cook, increasing the heat to medium-high and whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens like a soup and coats the back of a spoon nicely, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the Gruyère and Parmesan. Season with salt. Cool slightly at room temperature so it thickens.
- To assemble, spoon a few tablespoons of the cheese sauce in the center of a warm crêpe in a nonstick sauté pan. Sprinkle additional Parmesan over the cheese sauce and top with a folded piece of ham. Fold the crêpe in half and then in half again. Warm for 1 minute. Repeat with remaining crêpes and sauce and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 9 servings |
| Calories | 329 |
| Total Fat | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 26 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Cholesterol | 85 mg |
| Sodium | 728 mg |
Reviews
I didn’t think the sauce was all that good, so I added some extra salt and some pecorino Ramano to it and also had to add more milk to make it a bit ‘saucier’. The crepes were perfect and I only added 1 tbs of sugar. They had a great texture and that made them easy to fold. Would be great on a brunch table. Next time I’m going to try them with Raclette cheese. Gruyere just doesn’t taste like it used to.
These are delicious! I made exactly as written using GZ’s crêpe recipe from the same episode, including the sugar in the batter. The cheese sauce is decadent, and the ham was the perfect complement.
Decadent, cheesy creamy, and so easy to make.
These were delicious! The sauce was super tasty. I made it exactly as written, no ingredient changes. I made sure the ham was very thinly sliced and that worked out great.
This is an answer for Liz S.
No, you still add the sugar to the crepe mix.
No, you still add the sugar to the crepe mix.
Does one leave out the sugar in the crepe recipe when making savory crepes?
I make Alton Brown’s crepe recipe and the crepes come out perfectly. He rests his batter in the frig for one hour (and I have read this in other recipes). Makes them less likely to tear, how are these since there is no resting the batter?