Soups & Starters
Vegetarian & Vegan
Celeriac and Leek Pancakes
This week, I’ve been experimenting with different savoury fillings for pancakes (yes, I can still get flour here - the good people of East Sussex clearly aren’t as obsessed with making sourdough during the lockdown as elsewhere: flour is really hard to get hold of in some parts of the country at the moment).
Anyway, this is my favourite filling so far: a lovely creamy, vaguely aniseedy celeriac purée with sweet slices of leek, tangy spinach and the crunch of pine nuts, all finished off under the grill with cheese. Simple but delicious for lunch with a salad or with veg for dinner.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- For the pancake batter:
- 75g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 100ml milk
- 50ml water
- For the filling:
- 1 leek, sliced
- Half a large celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
- Vegetable stock
- half tbsp dijon mustard
- Handful of baby spinach leaves
- handful of toasted pine nuts
- 25g parmesan (or vegetarian equivalent)
Method
First make the pancakes: put the flour in a jug and make a well in the centre, add the egg, milk and water and then whisk together. Heat a frying pan until very hot, brush with a little olive oil and swirl in enough batter to thinly cover the base. Cook for 2 minutes then flip over with a spatula and cook for a minute on the other side. Keep warm while you make three more, layering them up with greaseproof paper between them as you go.
For the filling, fry the leek in a little butter until soft. Meanwhile, cook the celeriac in the stock until tender (takes about 10 mins), then mash with the mustard and leave in the hot pan to steam dry a little. Stir the leek and spinach into the celeriac mash and season well. Fill the pancakes with the mixture, arrange in an overproof dish, sprinkle with the cheese and grill until melted and browning. Serve immediately.