Galettes Complètes (Buckwheat Crepes)

Name: Galettes Complètes (Buckwheat Crepes)
Total time: 8 h 30 min
Yield: 6 crepes
Ingredients: 3 large eggs; 1 1/4 cups/150 grams buckwheat flour; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 6 large eggs; 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 2 cups); 8 ounces thinly sliced jambon de Paris (or other ham); Kosher salt and black pepper

By Gabrielle Hamilton

Updated April 1, 2020

Galettes Complètes (Buckwheat Crepes) — Jenny Huang for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Beatrice Chastka.

Total Time: 30 minutes, plus at least 8 hours’ chilling
Rating: 4(334)
Comments: Read comments

If you can make pancakes for breakfast, you can certainly make crepes for dinner. These savory ones from Brittany — which use buckwheat flour and are filled with Gruyère cheese, ham and egg — are nutty, earthy and incredibly satisfying any time of day. Loosen the batter, if needed, using beer, water or hard cider; it all works equally well. Once you get the hang of the tilt and swirl, you can have your family fed in minutes, and unlike those nerve-shredded times when you brightly declare “It’s breakfast for dinner, kids!” — which children everywhere know is a sign that something is wrong for Mom — this is one instance where you can announce it, and mean it: Everything is actually alright. Galettes complètes are meant to be a meal.

Featured in: Crepes Don’t Have to Be Fancy to Be Delicious

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Ingredients

Yield:6 crepes

For the Crepe Batter

3large eggs
1¼cups/150 grams buckwheat flour
¼teaspoon kosher salt

For the Assembly

6large eggs
6ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
8ounces thinly sliced jambon de Paris (or other ham)
Kosher salt and black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk 3 eggs with 1 cup water until frothy and uniform. Sift in buckwheat flour, and whisk until as smooth as a new can of paint. Season with salt and whisk to combine. Cover batter and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours).
Step 2
Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low. Ladle in ¼ cup of batter, then quickly tilt the pan in a clockwise motion to swirl the batter all the way to the edges into a perfectly round, very thin pancake. The batter should disperse quickly; if it is too thick — and doesn’t swiftly radiate to cover the width of the pan — you’ll need to stir a few extra tablespoons of water into the batter and try again with a second crepe. Expect to lose the first two or three crepes as you get used to the swirling motion, the amount of batter to add and the hotness of the pan. When all three factors align, you can make six savory crepes in about as many minutes.
Step 3
When you feel you have the hang of it and are ready to go live, ladle in ¼ cup batter, swirl and allow crepe to set for just 10 seconds. Crack an egg in the center, and use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread the egg white, which will allow the egg to cook evenly in the amount of time it will take the cheese to melt and the galette to crisp. Sprinkle about ⅓ cup Gruyère across the surface, then tear 2 or 3 pieces of ham and set them flat on top, surrounding the egg yolk.
Step 4
Allow the crepe to crisp up and brown on the bottom while the egg cooks sunny side up, and the ham warms through, 3 to 4 minutes. In Brittany, these are cooked on a large, round cast-iron griddle, and the four sides of the galette are folded in to become a large square before being slid onto a plate. This is harder to do in a slope-sided pan, but try it if it suits you — you’ll want to fold the sides about 1 minute before the egg is done cooking. Otherwise, an open round is just fine. Slide it onto a plate, and repeat with remaining galettes.
Step 5
Season with salt and pepper. Drink with hard cider, not too cold.

Ratings

4 out of 5

334 user ratings

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Comments

CWL5 years ago

In the French kitchen were I worked for many years, we always burnt the first crêpe to get it out of the way, so we could proceed unfettered to the work at hand.

RandoGal5 years ago

This is my go-to crepe batter, GF and DF. There is no need for wheat flour - soaking the buckwheat makes the batter fluffy and the finished crepes keep together beautifully. While bike touring in Brittany last summer, a sad discovery: yes, even a few natives have started adding wheat flour to the traditional galette sarrasin. (I learned this the hard way...) It's just inexperience and fear. Embrace the buckwheat - it works!

Hal Gaisford5 years ago

I lived in Rennes, Brittany, in mid '60's. Fridays the creperies were very busy offering savory (buckwheat) and sweet crepes (sugar, jam or grande marnier/cointreau). For us non-drinkers, the traditional beverage was babeurre (buttermilk) which was ladled out of huge crockery containers at room temperature. This recipe brings back wonderful memories

Jackie Kim5 months ago

The instruction is perfect. I did finish off the crepe under the broiler to firm up the egg yolk a little more as my kids don't love their eggs too runny. Also, because I only thought to make this for lunch at 10 am, I used 60g all purpose flour and 90g Buckwheat flour instead of the 150g Buchwheat flour called for. Three hours of soaking. Came out beautifully. I lightened the batter with a tbs or two of water. It is filling. We decided that one crepe and a salad is enough for one person.

Valentina9 months ago

Do you grease the pan? And do you accept a very soft egg? No matter how hard I try to spread the egg, I can’t get the white to completely loose the giggly consistency. But maybe it’s normal since it’s not fried

katie1 year ago

I used store bought crepes (Belgian Boys brand) and just started to heat them on both sides in a skillet to temp and then proceeded with the rest of the recipe. Came out beautifully.

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