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While I love my husband dearly and enjoy spending the majority of my time with him, my life wouldn’t be complete without a little (or a lot) of girl time. Girl time typically comes in the form of happy hour, it always includes food and wine, and eight times out of ten we wind up at this tapas restaurant where the food is cheap (during HH), the sangria is strong and a good time is guaranteed.
Also, most of our husbands hate tapas and can’t even fathom a restaurant that would serve small plates and expect them to be full by the end of the meal, so we must charge on without them.
Which has lead me to the conclusion that whoever invented tapas must have been woman, because only a woman could understand the magnitude of happiness ordering a ridiculous amount of food to share brings a group of girls. Or is this just my group of girlfriends?
I’ve noticed us getting some curious glances from waiters and other patrons when they see the sheer quantity of food getting delivered to our table, and even more concerned stares when they notice we’re going to finish it all…including the basket of bread which miraculously refills itself every fifteen minutes or so.
I swear, every time I leave there, I’m five pounds heavier.
I’ve had pretty much everything on the menu at this point, and I adore it all, but there are a few dishes that really speak to my taste buds, dishes my stomach requires me to order every single time I’m there, no exceptions.
First, chorizo stuffed, bacon wrapped dates, which are seemingly simple, but full of flavor and basically taste like candy with a slight hint of spiciness. Crazy addictive. Second, baked goat cheese in tomato sauce served with ridiculous amounts of garlicky crostini. Third, leek and feta crepes which are basically just a cheesy, creamy leek pie of sorts.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Yep, I made my own version. I already dominated the baked goat cheese and have future plans to recreate the dates, so for today we’re focusing on crepes.
Seeing as I have literally no idea what the ingredient list consists of, besides what the titles implies, I completely went off my gut in my recreation.
The filling, spelled out in the title is predominately made up of leeks and feta cheese, although I’m not sure if you can tell by looks alone, but there’s a ridiculous amount of cheese nestled in between those layers of crepes.
Feta. Goat Cheese. Mascarpone.
Three. Different. Cheeses. I know. Clearly it’s not light in the slightest.
Feta, for its rich, salty flavor.
Goat cheese, for tanginess and creaminess.
Mascarpone, for its mild flavor and creaminess.
If you don’t want to buy three different cheeses, I’d just stick with the feta and mascarpone, as the goat cheese isn’t a necessity, I just had it on hand, so I figured I’d throw it in there.
So first, two whole (large leeks) sweat in a little bit of butter until they’re super soft and translucent. I then hit it with a little bit of dry sherry, turn down the heat and slowly stir the cheeses in until the feta is almost completely melted. The filling is seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper and then it’s ready it go.
If you’re afraid of crepes, don’t be! I find them even easier to make than pancakes; for one, they don’t have to be perfect and two, they literally take seconds to make. No waiting for air bubbles to rise to the top, no fretting if the outside is crisp and brown but the inside is practically raw, and if you don’t pour enough batter in the beginning you can just add in a little bit more to fill in the gaps, no big deal. Here’s how I make them:
1. Start with a very hot medium sized non-stick skillet.
2. Take the pan off the heat and as you pour in the batter tilt the pan in a circular motion (clockwise or counterclockwise, doesn’t matter)
3. If there are a few holes, don’t worry about it, if you are worried about it, just fill in the holes with a few drops of batter
4. Once the edges start to crisp up and turn a golden brown, flip.
5. Done
Once the crepes are all made up, the filling is layered between them, they’re stacked up, popped into a 350 degree oven and baked until the filling is piping hot and the edges start to crisp up. The pie is cut into either four big slices or six medium slices and served with a super quick roasted red pepper sauce which I would escribe, but I’ve rambled on long enough.
So rich. So cheesy.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cups chopped leeks (rinsed)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sherry
- ¼ teaspoon dry basil leaves
- 7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 ounce goat cheese
- 4 tablespoons mascarpone
- 1 ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil + more for cooking.
- 1 cup roasted red pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ small onion, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. In another small bowl, whisk eggs, milk, water and coconut oil. Add to flour, whisk vigorously just until combined. Let the batter sit while you prepare the filling.
- Heat a medium non-stick skillet to a medium-high heat. Add ½ teaspoon of coconut oil. Swirl in pan.
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, scoop the batter out. With one hand take the skillet off the heat and working quickly, pour the batter into pan while tilting in a circular motion, letting the batter coat the entire skillet. If there are a few gaps, just fill them in with a little bit of batter.
- Once the edges become slightly crisp and golden brown after about 45 seconds, flip and cook another 20-30 seconds until golden brown.
- Repeat for remaining crepes.
- In a medium non-stick skillet, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add leeks and salt. Sauté until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add sherry and basil. Simmer until reduced, about 2 minutes. Add cheeses. Stir until mascarpone and goat cheese is melted and the feta is almost completely melted. Set aside.
- Place two crepes on top of each other. Spread with ⅓ of the leek and feta filling over the crepes. Place ⅓ of the cherry tomatoes sporadically over the filling. Top with two more crepes ⅓ of the filling, followed by ⅓ of the tomatoes. Repeat one more time, but on the last layer top with just one crepe.
- Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a siltpat and bake until filling is hot and the tomatoes are softened, about 20 minutes.
- While the crepes are baking, make the sauce. Place the roasted red peppers in a blender or mini food processor. Puree.
- In a small sauce pan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sweat until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add pureed peppers, vinegar, water, salt, sugar and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cut crepes into 4 large or 6 small slices. Top with roasted red pepper sauce.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Whoa – what a neat flavour!! These crepes sound incredible!
Nicole says
Thanks so much Katrina!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Seriously, it had to have been a woman. 😉 Tapas is the best – I love to have so many tastes at once and it’s so much fun to share food with a group of great ladies…
Nicole says
Me too!! The more food, the better!!
Ashley says
hahaha I sooo agree! I think tapas must have definitely been invented by a woman! Love these stacks – they sound awesome! I have a bunch of leeks right now in my fridge .. I need to put them to good use!
Nicole says
What is it about leeks that’s so freaking good??? I just love them!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
These crepes look gorgeous, Nicole! I love the savory flavors. And the feta and leek combo sounds delicious!
Nicole says
Thanks so much Gayle!! The feta and leek combo is SO good!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
OMG. These sound incredible! Basically all of my favorite flavors combined into one dish. Anddddddd now I’m drooling…
Nicole says
Thanks love!
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
Tapas is totally girly food! I’m all over anything with feta cheese and mascarpone. Love how you stacked the crepes and that red pepper sauce looks amazing!
Nicole says
Haha right?! Thanks Christin!
Lily Lau says
Why can’t I try the ones of your photos, why do I have to risk not having the same result as you do? Haha sorry, looks so delicious!
Trisha Moore says
I really want to try this recipe but I haven tried to open it several times and I can only see the instructions through then1st step of the filling where you melt the cheeses and nothing after that. So no sauce instructions or assembly. Am I missing something?
Nicole says
I’m so sorry Trisha, I have no idea what happened to the second half of the recipe! So weird. It’s updated!!!
Chris @ Shared Appetite says
Hold on, hold on. I am a dude and I love, repeat LOVE, tapas. Nothing makes me happier than getting to try a whole lot of different flavors in one meal. And I compensate the small bites thing by doing what you do… ordering a ridiculous amount of the menu and stuffing my face until I can’t fit one more thing in my body!
Nicole says
Ok, can you please teach my husband to like them!!! He complains every time we go anywhere with small plates, it drives me bonkers!!!