French Recipes

Ficelle picarde

Thin Picard crêpes rolled around cooked ham and a dry mushroom-shallot duxelles, topped with crème fraîche and Emmental and baked until bubbling and browned.

French Recipes
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Ficelle picarde — served on a plate
Prep 25 minutes
Cook 42 minutes
Total 127 minutes
Yield 6 ficelles in one 30 × 20 cm gratin dish
Ingredients ↓
Overview

Ficelle picarde — ham and mushroom crêpes gratinated with crème fraîche

Ficelle picarde is a Picard savoury crêpe dish associated with Amiens and the 1950s. Its structure is precise enough that seemingly small substitutions change the result: a thin crêpe wraps cooked ham and mushroom-shallot duxelles, while crème fraîche and grated cheese form the gratin. Béchamel is not used in this preparation, so the finished dish stays lighter and more clearly defined by the crêpe, mushrooms and cream.

The crêpes are intentionally thin. A 60-minute refrigerated rest hydrates the flour and relaxes the batter before six 16 cm rounds are cooked with roughly 55 ml each. They need only light colour and enough setting to stay flexible; a crisp crêpe will crack when rolled and then absorb cream unevenly in the oven.

The duxelles controls the final texture. Mushrooms release a large amount of water as they cook, so keep them over medium heat until the pan looks dry and a spatula drawn across the base leaves no puddle. That concentrated filling goes over one measured slice of ready-to-eat cooked ham in each crêpe. Rolling the six ficelles seam-side down keeps them compact during the gratin.

Crème fraîche and Emmental finish the dish without a flour-thickened sauce. Fifteen minutes at 200 °C should produce bubbling cream and browned cheese while keeping the crêpes tender. Check the assembled centre for 74 °C before serving. That temperature matters even though the ham is ready to eat, because the final dish is an assembled casserole containing dairy and a cooked filling that has been handled and cooled.

Success points

Success points

  • Rest the batter for the full hour so the thin crêpes cook evenly and remain flexible.
  • Cook the mushroom mixture until the pan is genuinely dry; wet duxelles is the main route to soggy ficelles.
  • Use one measured ham slice, one sixth of the duxelles, 30 g crème fraîche and 30 g Emmental per roll for consistent heating.
Ingredients

Ingredients

Crêpes

  • 100 g plain wheat flour — All retained.
  • 100 g whole egg without shell, about 2 large eggs — All retained.
  • 330 ml whole milk — All retained.
  • 2 g fine salt — All retained.
  • 25 g unsalted butter, melted; for batter and pan — All but a negligible pan film is counted as retained.

Filling and gratin

  • 500 g button mushrooms, trimmed clean weight, finely chopped — All 500 g cooked down into the duxelles.
  • 200 g shallots, peeled, finely chopped — All retained.
  • 25 g unsalted butter, for duxelles and dish — All but a negligible pan/dish film is counted as retained.
  • 240 g cooked ham, 6 ready-to-eat slices, about 40 g each — One measured slice per ficelle.
  • 180 g crème fraîche, 30 g per ficelle — All retained.
  • 180 g Emmental, finely grated, 30 g per ficelle — All retained.
  • 2 g black pepper — All retained.
Method

Method

Directions

  1. Mix the crêpe batter. Whisk flour and salt with the eggs, then add milk gradually and whisk in 15 g of the melted butter. Time: 8 minutes. The batter is smooth and fluid with no flour lumps.

  2. Rest the batter. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 60 minutes. Time: 60 minutes resting and refrigeration. Temperature: 4 °C or below. The batter is fully hydrated, cold and still fluid after stirring.

  3. Cook six thin crêpes. Heat a 16 cm crêpe pan over medium heat, brush with the remaining 10 g melted butter and cook six crêpes using about 55 ml batter each, about 2 minutes total per crêpe. Time: 12 minutes total. Each crêpe is thin, flexible and lightly coloured, with no wet batter remaining on the surface.

  4. Cook the duxelles. Melt 20 g of the second butter portion in a wide pan, cook shallots for 5 minutes, add mushrooms and black pepper, then continue for 10 minutes until the mixture is dry. Time: 15 minutes. Removing mushroom moisture prevents soggy crêpes. The mushrooms are tender and the pan is dry enough that a spatula drawn across the base leaves no puddle of liquid.

  5. Fill the ficelles. Heat the oven to 200 °C. Use the remaining 5 g butter to grease a 30 × 20 cm gratin dish. Lay one 40 g ham slice on each crêpe, add one sixth of the duxelles, roll snugly and arrange seam-side down. Time: 10 minutes. Temperature: 200 °C. Six rolls sit in one layer, each enclosing one ham slice and an even share of the dry duxelles.

  6. Top and gratinate. Spread 30 g crème fraîche over each roll, top each with 30 g grated Emmental and bake at 200 °C for 15 minutes. Time: 15 minutes. Temperature: 200 °C. The final gratin heats the ready-to-eat ham and filling through while browning the cheese. Verify 74 °C in the centre of the assembled dish before serving. The cream bubbles at the edges, the Emmental is browned, the crêpes remain tender rather than soggy, and the centre of the assembled dish reaches 74 °C.

Practical guidance

Practical

Practical guidance

Serve immediately from the gratin dish, one ficelle per person as a substantial starter or two for a larger meal.

Practical guidance

For make-ahead, cook the crêpes and duxelles earlier in the day, cool them and refrigerate separately. Assemble close to baking so the crêpes do not soak in cream for hours.

Practical guidance

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use within 3 days. Reheat covered at 170 °C until the centre reaches 74 °C, then uncover briefly for the cheese.

Practical guidance

Gruyère is documented in some regional recipes and can replace Emmental with a slightly different flavour. Replacing crème fraîche with béchamel changes the defining sauce structure.

Troubleshooting

Soggy crêpes — the mushroom mixture retained free liquid; cook until the pan shows no puddle when scraped.

Troubleshooting

Crêpes crack during rolling — they were cooked too long or made too thick; measure about 55 ml batter and keep them flexible.

Troubleshooting

Cheese browns before 74 °C is reached — cover loosely with foil and continue heating until the centre reaches the safety threshold.

Nutrition per serving

Nutrition per serving

  • Serving size1 ficelle, 1/6 dish
  • Calories482 kcal
  • Carbohydrate25 g
  • Protein26 g
  • Fat31 g
  • Fibre2 g
  • Sodium890 mg
Allergens and food safety

Allergens and food safety

Allergens: Egg; Milk; Gluten (wheat)

Keep batter and ready-to-eat ham refrigerated at 4 °C or below until needed.

The assembled gratin must reach 74 °C in the centre.

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat leftovers to 74 °C.

FAQ

FAQ

Why must the duxelles be so dry?

Mushroom water left in the pan is absorbed by the crêpes during gratinating, making the rolls soggy.

Can the crêpes be made the day before?

Yes. Cool them, stack with separators if needed, cover and refrigerate, then assemble with cold ham and duxelles shortly before baking.

Closing

Closing

  • Result: six tender rolled crêpes with distinct ham and mushroom filling under bubbling crème fraîche and browned Emmental.
  • Decisive technique: cook the duxelles completely dry before rolling, then gratinate only until the cheese browns and the centre reaches 74 °C.
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