Whole Wheat Blintz with Ricotta, Apple, Walnut, Raisin Filling

This a first for me, but I am quite pleased with the turnout! How can you go wrong with creamy lightly sweetened ricotta cheese, sauteed apples and raisins with a sprinkle of crunchy walnuts - all enveloped in a light crepe-like dough?

A traditional blintz recipe calls for full fat ricotta and/or cream cheese for the filling as well as lots of butter, refined sugars and whole milk for the crepe batter. I lightened the load by substituting canola oil when possible, and cutting the butter by half. In addition, I used maple syrup as a sweetener in place of white sugar as well as low fat 1% milk.

For the batter I used a combination of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour as well as added a tablespoon of wheat germ for added fiber. Recipe Follows:

INGREDIENTS (makes 4-5 blintzes)

Whole Wheat Crepe:

.5 cup whole wheat flour

.5 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon Sugar in the Raw (or Turbinado Sugar)

.25 teaspoon salt

2 whole eggs, 1 egg white

.5 cup 1% milk

2 teaspoons canola oil

.5 cup water

1 tablespoon wheat germ

Combine ingredients until well blended, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

Apple Raisin Walnut Filling:

3 Tablespoon butter

2 large apples (I prefer Gala), cut into pieces

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon lemon juice

.25 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon honey

Confectioner's sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl add lemon juice to chopped apple/raisin/walnut mixture, combine, set aside.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan, add the chopped apples, raisins, and walnuts, mix and coat with melted butter. Saute for about 5 minutes on medium/low heat. Add the maple syrup, honey and cinnamon. Saute for another 5 minutes until bubbling and the apple is tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sweet Ricotta Filling:

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 lemon

.5 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Combine ingredients, zest one lemon, cut it in half and juice one half of the lemon. Mix until well integrated.

PREPARATION

Heat one large frying pan, spray with PAM (or similar) vegetable oil. Ladle the crepe batter (about 4-5 tablespoons worth) onto the pan, swirl the pan around to make sure it is entirely coated with batter, and the batter is thinned out. The batter hardens quickly, so keep an eye on it. After about a minute, turn the crepe over.

Add about 2 tablespoons of the apple/raisin/walnut mixture to the center of the crepe, followed by a dollop (about 2 tablespoons) of the ricotta mixture.

Gently fold each end of the crepe over the filling to form a bundle.

Remove from heat and place the bundle on a prepared cookie sheet (covered with foil or parchment paper - if using foil, spray lightly with PAM)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the cookie sheet with the blintz bundles (seam side down) in the center of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes - or until the tops are golden.

Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm with pure maple syrup or with fruit spread. This makes a perfect, hearty weekend brunch!