These super easy to make 3-ingredient Polish crepes (nalesniki) are a delicious breakfast idea. Enjoy with a dollop of low fat and sugar strawberry ricotta sauce.
These Polish crepes ‘nalesniki’ with strawberry cheese filling are my ‘sweetest’ recipe in the pancake ‘series’ (following my semi sweet healthy apple pancakes and savoury easy yogurt pancakes with avocado sauce and bacon).
Because of their popularity in Poland there are many versions of these French style crepe recipes. Some people like to add butter or oil into the batter, as well as more eggs. I like simplicity in my cooking so my recipe contains only 3 ingredients: 1 egg, semi-skimmed (low fat) milk and plain flour. This produces light, thin crepes that tend to crisp up around the edges. One of the most popular ways of serving nalesniki crepes in Poland is with sweetened cottage cheese (twarog). These crepes are pretty filling and are often served as lunch or supper.
My version of this dish is lighter and more suitable for breakfast.
How to make crepes pancake batter
With only 3 ingredients these Polish crepes are very easy to make! Place the flour in a large bowl and add the egg, then gradually pour in the milk whisking all the time until smooth. If there are any lumps left use a stick blender to get the batter as smooth as possible. And that’s all there is to it! Leave it for a few minutes as the batter might thicken a little at first and add a drop of milk if needed to get the right consistency.
How to fry crepes
This bit can be a little tricky at first if you’ve never made crepes before. I recommend using a smaller pan as it’s easier to spread the batter over a smaller surface. Use about half a spoonful of oil per pancake (grease the pan evenly), heat it up and ladle the batter onto the pan swirling it around to make sure it spreads evenly. Don’t be afraid to make these crepes very thin, they won’t tear easily. They need about 1.5 minutes on each side (cooked over a medium heat).
If at any point the batter seems to have thickened just add a few drops of milk.
How to make strawberry ricotta crepe filling
The filling is very simple, essentially consisting of quite a generous amount of strawberries, a bit of sugar and some ricotta cheese. Ricotta makes the whole thing thick and creamy while keeping the calories down.
I am using frozen strawberries (it’s an all-season recipe!) but you can use fresh if you prefer. Cook the strawberries with the sugar for about 5 minutes. Then puree the mixture with the ricotta and vanilla bean paste and serve with your crepes nalesniki! You can serve the filling warm or chilled.
Enjoy!
If you are into crepes you might also like these Polish krokiety with beets and cabbage, where I’ve used a more substantial crepes batter mixture.
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1 and 1/3 cup semi-skimmed milk
- Olive oil for frying
- 400 g frozen or fresh strawberries
- 250 g ricotta
- 1.5 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract
- Fresh strawberries and icing sugar for garnish, optional
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To make the pancakes pour the flour into a large bowl and add the egg. Then gradually add the milk whisking all the time until the batter is smooth. If there are any lumps left use a stick blender to make the mixture as smooth as possible.
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Lightly grease (1/2 tsp oil per pancake) and heat up a pancake pan and ladle the batter onto it (tip the pan in a circular motion so the batter spreads evenly covering the entire surface of the pan and producing a thin pancake). Fry over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes on each side until the pancake is lightly browned. Stack the pancakes up on a large plate.
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To make the filling combine the strawberries with the sugar and cook over a medium heat until the strawberries have thawed and a syrup has formed (about 5 minutes). Remove from the heat, add the ricotta and vanilla extract and puree. Serve warm or chilled. Add fresh strawberry pieces (optional) and serve.
If you are a beginner at making crepes I recommend using a small pan to start with as it's easier to spread the batter evenly over a smaller surface.
Pin Polish Crepes (Nalesniki) with Strawberry Ricotta Filling!
Recipe link parties
I am bringing these Polish nalesniki crepes with strawberry sauce to #CookBlogShare hosted this week by Tin and Thyme.
They look like perfect crepes and the strawberry filling sounds delicious!
Thank you! The strawberry filling makes these crepes really moreish!