Cheese Blintzes with Raspberry Sauce

First, I made the cheese filling by whisking together the ricotta, powdered sugar, cream cheese, and salt.  I whisked the mixture until it was smooth with no lumps and then put it in the refrigerator.

Next, I worked on the raspberry sauce.  I put the raspberries in a saucepan with the sugar and salt and heated them on medium for about eight minutes, stirring them occasionally.  Once the berries had mostly broken down, I strained the sauce to get rid of the seeds.  The original recipe did not call for this step, but, having had diverticulitis in the past, Chris does his best to avoid seeds.  I personally also prefer the texture of a sauce without them.  This step took some time.  I mashed the berries through a strainer into a bowl, making sure to continually scrape the luscious sauce from the bottom of the strainer as I worked.  After smashing as much liquid out of the berries as I could, I had a beautiful, silky sauce.  I put the sauce in the refrigerator.

For the crepe batter, I whisked together the flour, salt, and sugar.  In a separate bowl, I whisked together the eggs and milk until they blended thoroughly.  I added half of the flour mixture to the eggs and whisked them until they were well combined.  I whisked in the melted butter, again until they were blended.  Finally, I added the rest of the flour to the batter, making sure everything was well combined.

I heated a 12-inch non-stick pan over medium heat.  I brushed a tablespoon of butter into the pan and then tested the temperature by adding a teaspoon of the batter and letting it cook for 20 seconds.  If the temperature is right, the mini-crepe will be browned lightly after 20 seconds.

Now that the pan was ready, I poured 1/3 cup of batter in, swirling the pan to spread it, and let it cook until the edges started to curl, and the crepe cooked all the way through.  As it would get folded, I didn’t worry about getting a perfect shape.  I moved the crepe to a plate (no need to cook the other side), and repeated the process, brushing the pan with butter as needed until I had 12 crepes.  The batter made 14, so there was some room for error.

Using a scoop, I put two tablespoons of the cheese filling onto the crepe in a strip (two inches by four) about two inches from the bottom.  I folded the bottom over the filling, folded the sides in, and then folded the crepe over until it was a packet (two inches by four inches).  I set aside the blintzes we were planning to eat and put the rest into the freezer (individually portioned with individual portions of raspberry sauce) for later.

I melted two tablespoons of butter in the same non-stick pan over medium heat.  I added the blintzes to the pan, with the seam side down, and cooked them for four minutes on each side until they browned lightly.  I need more practice rolling the blintzes; some of them leaked.  Topped with the raspberry sauce, they were delicious, nicely sweet, but not over the top, perfect for brunch or dessert.

Each blintze has 285 calories, with 33 grams of carbs, two grams of fiber, 10 grams of protein, and 13 grams of fat.