Crespelle con Radicchio di Treviso

Radicchio di Treviso is the Veneto's great contribution to the vegetable world, and most Americans do not know what to do with it. They taste the bitterness and reach for sugar, for balsamic reduction, for anything to make it sweet. This is a failure of understanding. The bitterness is why it exists. The bitterness is why Venetians prize it above all other winter vegetables.

These crespelle embrace that bitterness. The radicchio is sautéed gently with shallots until it softens and concentrates, then wrapped in thin egg crepes and blanketed with béchamel. The cream sauce does not mask the bitter edge. It provides contrast. The two flavors need each other.

In the Veneto, this dish appears on winter tables when the radicchio is at its peak, after the first frosts have intensified its flavor. It is not breakfast food there, but a first course for Sunday lunch or a light supper. The crespelle can be made ahead, the filling prepared in the morning, the whole thing assembled and baked when guests arrive. This is practical cooking for people who want to eat well without standing at the stove through dinner.