Baked spinach and ricotta pancakes

Baked pancakes

Pancake Day very much ignited my enthusiasm for pancakes and crepes! Here’s a savoury pancake recipe, which uses spinach and ricotta. Delicious served with salad, or boiled new potatoes and green beans.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

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Ingredients:

• 110g plain flour, sifted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 250ml milk
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 250g spinach
• 250g ricotta
• 1 lemon, zested
• 50g Parmesan, grated
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

 Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
2. To make the pancakes, sift the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the beaten egg. Beat the egg into the flour with a fork and add the milk gradually. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and pour in the pancake mixture until it covers the bottom of the pan. When the underside is golden, flip the pancake. Repeat to make eight pancakes.
3. Fry the onions in a knob of butter in a large pan until soft.
4. Add the garlic and spinach and cook until the spinach is completely wilted. Leave to cool.
5. Mix in the ricotta, lemon zest and half the Parmesan and season.
6. Spread one-third of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.
7. Divide another third of the mixture between eight pancakes and roll each one up to make an evenly filled tube.
8. Sit the pancakes side by side in the dish (like cannelloni). Pour the remaining third of the sauce over the pancakes.
9. Sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan.
10. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is golden.

Enjoy…

Photo: Fahara F

Pancake day

Pancakes

Lent is supposed to be a time of abstinence. A time when we give up luxury and over-indulgence for a simpler, more meagre way of life.

Unfortunately, instead of encouraging me to empty my cupboards of all sugary and fatty foods, Shrove Tuesday just reminds me of how much I like pancakes..!

Every year, when tucking into sugar-sprinkled, lemon-drizzled pancakes, I ponder why I only make them on this one, isolated day of the calendar.

The Americans enjoy piles of syrup-coated pancakes for breakfast. The French tuck into freshly made crepes on the streets on Paris. So this Lent, I plan to give up not eating pancakes…

Here are a few of my favourite pancake fillings:

1. Raspberries and blueberries

Feel better about yourself by offsetting the fat and grease with some healthy, fresh fruit! Just sprinkle the berries over the pancake and dust with icing sugar.

2. Banana and honey

A naturally sweet combination. Fold chopped banana into the pancake and drizzle with some runny honey. Tasty with a spoon of Greek yoghurt.

3. Pear and chocolate

Caramelise the pear in red wine and sugar and fold into the pancake before grating dark chocolate over the top. Deliciously self-indulgent.

4. Strawberries and maple syrup

Sweet and fruity. Chop fresh strawberries on to the pancake and drizzle with maple syrup. Enjoy with a spoon of vanilla ice cream.

5. Lemon and sugar

The original and the best. It just can’t be beaten. And believe me, I’ve experimented. I’ve gone through the crazy days of banana and nutella, but I always come crawling back to the old favourite. Although controversially, I do quite like to add a squeeze of orange to the lemon juice.

Photo: Jessica Spengler