Ricotta Blintzes with Blueberry-Lime Sauce

Blintzes are such an old-fashioned sounding dish—if I had a great-aunt Sadie, I’m sure she would have made them for me. Here I’ve updated the traditional ricotta filling a bit by adding some fresh lime zest and juice and a drop of vanilla extract, but the spirit of the dish is pure Jewish comfort food. Frying and then baking the blintzes makes the filling puff up and the crêpe take on an addictive crisp texture. The blueberry-lime sauce is a fine complement, but so is the spiced plum compote on page 118.

Makes 8 blintzes; serves 4 for brunch

FOR THE BLUEBERRY-LIME SAUCE

2 cups/300 g fresh or thawed frozen blueberries

¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar, plus more as needed

1 tsp finely grated lime zest

2 to 3 tsp fresh lime juice

Kosher salt

FOR THE FILLING

8 oz/225 g whole-milk ricotta

1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp finely grated lime zest

1 tsp fresh lime juice

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

Small pinch of kosher salt

1 large egg, beaten

8 Versatile Crêpes or your choice

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp unsalted butter

Confectioners’ sugar for garnish

MAKE THE BLUEBERRY-LIME SAUCE

Put the blueberries and ¼ cup/50 g sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of water, cover the pan, and cook until the berries release a lot of their juice, 4 to 5 minutes. Uncover and simmer until the berries have collapsed even more and the juices have reduced and thickened a bit, a few minutes more. The sauce won’t be thick, but rather slightly syrupy. Let the sauce cool for a few minutes, then stir in the lime zest and 2 tsp of the lime juice. Season with salt and taste and adjust with more sugar or lime juice as needed. (You can make the sauce up to 1 week ahead and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container.)

MAKE THE FILLING

Put the ricotta, confectioners’ sugar, flour, lime zest, lime juice, vanilla, and salt into a small bowl and stir with a fork to blend (don’t overmix or you’ll lose the fluffy texture of the ricotta). Stir in the egg.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F/200°C/gas 6. Butter the bottom of a 9-x-13-in/23-x-33-cm baking dish.

Gently warm the crêpes in the microwave until they’re soft and pliable, about 30 seconds. Lay the crêpes presentation-side down on a clean work surface. Spoon 2 tbsp of the ricotta filling into the center of each one, and then spread the filling into an oval. Fold the bottom and top edges of each crêpe up to enclose the filling, and then fold in both sides to create neat, flattish rectangularblintzes about 3½ in/9 cm long.

Melt about half of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter is no longer foamy, arrange as many blitzes in the skillet, seam-side up, as will fit easily in one layer, with enough room for you to get a spatula in there to flip them. Cook until the bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden, another 2 minutes. Transfer the blintzes to the prepared baking dish. Repeat with any remaining blintzes and butter.

Put the baking dish in the oven and bake until the blintzes are slightly puffed, the filling is heated through, and the bottoms of the crêpes are a touch crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.

Arrange two blintzes on each of four plates. Spoon a ribbon of the blueberry-lime sauce over the blintzes and sprinkle each one with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm.

Note: The lime in the sauce helps to brighten the sweet (but sometimes flat) flavor of the blueberries, so use just enough to achieve a good balance. This sauce is also delicious on ice cream, so make a double batch and enjoy it a second time.