Now to the filling. Wash the spinach and collect them in a large skillet. Pour in a few tablespoons of water, cover, and cook on low flame for about 10 minutes, or until wilted.

Squeeze the spinach to remove the excess water, they should be as dry as possible, and chop them with a knife.

In a pan heat the olive oil with the minced clove of garlic on low flame. When the garlic begins to sizzle gently, scrape in the spinach and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until the spinach are dry and infused with the garlic flavour. Set aside and let cool down.

When the spinach are cold, add them in a bowl with the ricotta, the grated Pecorino, a pinch of nutmeg and salt. Mix with a fork as to have a beautifully marbled green and white filling. Taste it: it should have a faint smell of nutmeg and be savoury enough from the cheese and salt. Should it be too bland, add more grated cheese.

Beat an egg and stir into the filling. Set aside.

Prepare the crespelle: heat a 20cm large non stick pan on medium heat. Soak a paper napkin in olive oil and brush with it the hot pan. Careful with your fingers!

Pour the crespelle batter into the pan and swirl to cover it with a thin layer. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the crespella becomes golden brown on the edges, then with a spatula flip it and cook also on the other side for one more minute.

Move the first crespella onto a plate and prepare the second one. You should obtain 8 crespelle.

Now make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. When melted, spoon in the flour and whisk for a few minutes until golden and toasted.

Pour in the cold milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

Let on medium-low heat until thickened and season with a good pinch of salt and grated nutmeg as to give the béchamel a delicate spiced smell.

Now that you have all the ingredients you need - crespelle, béchamel and filling - preheat oven to 200°C.

Spread each pancake with the spinach and ricotta filling: roll them up as a cannellone or fold them as an handkerchief.

Arrange the crespelle slightly overlapping in a baking dish previously spread with a few tablespoons of béchamel sauce.

Drizzle the crespelle with the left béchamel sauce, a few tablespoons of tomato purée, more grated Pecorino and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Lower the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling on the sides.

Eat the crespelle hot just out of the oven or, even better, warm them the day after with a dash of milk.