I know you’ve had Lasagna but have you had crepe lasagna rolls? My moms meat filled crepes with bechamel sauce and cheese are what lasagna dreams are made of. This savory crepe recipe is so good and you probably won’t be able to tell that they’re not made with actual lasagna sheets. This recipe was the best experiment and accidentally made by my mom right before Christmas. She went out to find cannelloni in Bulgaria but didn’t have any luck. She thought she could try using crepes, rolling them with meat and cheese and assembling similarly to lasagna. Little did she know, this was one of the tastiest meals she had ever made. Mom immediately called me raving about it and here we are now making it for the page.
I was skeptical at first, but trust me when I tell you, this is one of the tastiest meals I have ever had. The soft crepes stuffed and oozing with cheese accompanied by the creamy bechamel makes this recipe the ultimate comfort food.
Cannelloni Crepes
This recipe is the ultimate comfort food. My moms meat filled crepes with bechamel sauce and cheese are what lasagna dreams are made of!
Equipment
- 1 9 inch non-stick pan or any for making the crepes
- 1 9 by 13 baking dish
Ingredients
The Crepes (use any recipe you like)
- 1 ⅓ cups milk I used 2% but any will work
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons melted butter cooled down
- 2 cups all purpose flour add a touch less if you want them thinner
The Bechamel Sauce
- 3.5 tablespoons butter (50 grams)
- ½ cup flour (50 grams)
- 2 cups milk (500ml)
- salt to taste we added a pinch
The Meat Filling
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or any
- 1 finely diced onion
- 1 finely diced carrot optional
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 600 grams ground meat of choice we used pork, you can use beef or any
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon of each spice (dry oregano, paprika, salt)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted veggie broth or water
- 1 tablespoon of mozzarella in each crepe when rolling with the meat
Additional Ingredients
- 1 cup tomato sauce or marinara we used homemade sugo
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese measure with your heart
- ½ cup additional grated mozzarella on top measure with your heart
Instructions
Please practice “mise en place” which means you prep/chop all of your ingredients before you start. I want you to be ready so that you don’t scramble for ingredients or get flustered.
Crepes:
- Make the crepes as per my recipe and set aside. You can use any crepe recipe you like. I will link the recipe and video to mine below. If you use your own crepe recipe, make sure it doesn't have pure vanilla extract or any sweetness in it. Click below and follow this recipe to make 10 savory crepes. Easy 5 Ingredient Crepes – The Modern Nonna
Bechamel Sauce:
- In a pot on the stove, on medium heat, add the butter and make sure it shimmers. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, stir in the flour until a thick paste. Slowly add the milk as you whisk at the same time.
- Continue to whisk until the milk has finished. Once the milk has finished whisk for a few more minutes until the sauce has thickened. It should coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take it off the heat and set aside.
The Meat Filling:
- In a large pan on the stove on medium-high heat, add the oil and let it heat up. Add the onions and carrots. Add in the garlic and stir. Add the ground meat and begin to break it up. Fry the ground meat for about 10 minutes or until it begins to pop. The water should completely evaporate and the pan should be dry.
- When the water has evaporated, reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the oregano, paprika, and salt, stir. Sir in the tablespoon of flour and broth. If you don't want to use broth you can also use water.
- Cook it for another minute or so until thick. Take the meat off the heat.
Assembling the Crepes:
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Take a 9 by 13 baking dish or any dish that can fit 10 crepes tightly.
- Place a crepe onto a plate or your work surface. Add approximately 3 tablespoons of the meat filling, a sprinkle of grated mozzarella and roll it tightly. Repeat this step until all of the crepes are filled and rolled. How much filling you add will depend on how big/small your crepes are. Measure with your heart.
- Add 1-2 ladles of marinara sauce to the bottom of your baking dish. You can use marinara sauce like Rao's or make your own Italian sugo and use that instead. Ours was made from our homemade tomato sauce that we make every year but any sauce you like will work.
- Arrange the crepes into the baking dish, we make sure to nestle them in tightly together.
- Take the bechamel sauce and pour it on top of each crepe. I like to take a spoon and spread it out evenly.
- Take a little more tomato sauce and spoon it over each crepe. Add grated Parmigiano cheese and grated mozzarella. Measure the cheese with your heart but make sure it's good quality.
- Bake uncovered in a preheated 400F oven until bubbly and golden. The timing will depend on the oven, ours took 40 minutes.
Notes
You don’t have to roll the crepes individually. You can absolutely make your life easier by assembling this dish the same way you would assemble a lasagna.
I don’t have dairy-free or gluten-free substitutes for this dish. If you have a gluten-free crepe recipe and a dairy-free bechamel sauce you can try that but results will vary of course.
Feel free to use any marinara sauce you enjoy. We make our own sugo on the stove with our homemade tomato sauce but any sauce you like such as Rao’s will work.
You can use any crepe recipe of choice but DO NOT add any sugar or vanilla into the batter!
You can prepare EVERYTHING the DAY BEFORE and assemble the following day! My mom makes the bechamel, the meat filling and the crepes the day before. She covers them well individually and puts everything in the fridge. The following day when she’s ready to assemble she warms the filling and bechamel sauce.
If you want to use traditional lasagna sheets and make this without crepes you are more than welcome to.
Feel free to buy a crepe batter (not sweet though) if you want a shortcut.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
2 Responses
Your Mom is gorgeous! Thanks for the recipes
omg thanks Jackie!!