Scrippelle ‘mbusse

Scripelle 'mbusse are a typical dish of Teramo cuisine but widespread throughout Abruzzo. Here's how to prepare these crepes served in broth.

The original recipe for Abruzzo scrippelle 'mbusse is that of a poor but tasty first course . The highlight of this typical product (among other things, scrippelle are a traditional agri-food product of the region) is the particular type of pasta: crepes made with eggs, water and flour served rolled up on themselves and in broth . This is precisely where their name comes from: in local dialect ' mbusse means wet.

We will tell you later the story (or legend) behind this recipe. For now we will just tell you that scrippelle, unlike crêpes, are used like pasta and therefore rarely filled. An exception is the baked scrippelle, a sort of cannelloni with mixed ragù. In any case, the dish we propose today is perfect for warming up the cold winter evenings and it is no coincidence that in Abruzzo it is the protagonist of the holiday table .

Preparing the recipe for scrippelle mbusse

1. Before trying your hand at creating crepes, prepare a good meat broth with which to present the dish. Tradition would have it with chicken or capon but vegetable ones are also fine. If you can, prepare it the night before, letting it rest overnight and filtering it the next day: it will be even tastier.
2. For the dough, break the eggs into a bowl and beat them with an electric whisk until they are light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour one spoonful at a time, stirring constantly, and the salt .
4. Add the water little by little until you obtain a fluid and homogeneous consistency . This too gives its best if prepared the night before and left to rest in the fridge overnight.
5. Now prepare the crepes. Take a non-stick pan and grease it with a napkin soaked in oil. Heat it well on the stove.
6. Take a ladle of batter and pour it into the center of the pan. Quickly, swirl and move the pan to distribute the mixture evenly. If this step is difficult it means that the batter is not fluid enough.
7. Cook for a few minutes and, when the edges appear cooked, you can turn the scrippella. Cook the other side in the same way.
8. As the Teramo crepes are ready, remove them with a spatula and move them onto a clean cloth to let them cool.
9. Proceed in this way until you run out of dough. Every time you cook a scrippella, remember to grease the pan again .
10. When cooking is finished, begin heating the broth. Take the grated Parmesan , sprinkle a handful of it on each sheet and roll it up on itself. Alternatively, you can also cut them into rounds, if you don't want to leave them intact.
11. Take a deep plate and arrange them close together. Cover them with the hot broth. Sprinkle more Parmesan on top and serve.

Here is a video with all the steps to make this dish. You will notice some differences between the proportions but trust our recipe: it's grandma's!

Conservation

Crespelle in Abruzzo-style broth are excellent if enjoyed freshly and hot. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for 1 day , closed in an airtight container.

Origin and history

Although the French origin of crêpes is taken for granted, in Abruzzo they did not give up and at least wanted to claim the origin of scrippelle . These crepes (do you know that crepe comes from the French crêpes s'appelle , meaning it's called crêpes ?) were created by mistake.

At the beginning of the 19th century , present-day Abruzzo was the border area between the French and Spanish empires. In the service of the French troops stationed in Teramo there was a certain Enrico Castorani . He dropped an entire tray of crepes into the chicken broth and, not wanting to throw it all away, he brought it to the table anyway, passing it off as a new recipe. Needless to say, if they are still prepared today, they were very successful.

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