Spinach & Ricotta Baked Pancakes
So I gave you my cheat’s 20 minute homemade ricotta recipe. But what to do with it?
I have the answer: French buckwheat pancakes (galettes) stuffed with spinach, ricotta, peas & nutmeg, rolled and baked in a tomato sauce and grated cheese, all served with a generous grind of black pepper.
Incredibly cheap (especially if you make your own ricotta). Incredibly easy. Incredibly delicious.
This pancake recipe is a regular in our house. It’s something I can make with use-by date milk (or the whey leftover from the ricotta-making!), frozen spinach and peas, and some buckwheat or plain flour. Since these things are almost always in our cupboards, this is my go-to “eating from the pantry” meal when my meal plan has let me down and I need to make something quickly with the things already in my house!
And it always goes down well with everyone in the house. If my kids are going through a picky phase and won’t eat spinach any other way, this never fails me. They’ve scoffed the lot and asked for more before they’ve even noticed the greens inside!
I hope this will become as much of a go-to easily consumed family favourite in your house as it is in ours. And if your kids really really won’t eat the spinach? Replace the spinach with more peas or frozen broad beans to make it sweet and simple.
Easy to make and even easier to eat, this is our go-to eat from the pantry recipe when we need to make a quick meal from what is lying around the house. It tastes amazing, is a guaranteed way to get greens into my kids, and is fun and quick to make, too!
- 300 g (2 cups) buckwheat flour (you can use plain or wholemeal or a mix of both to make normal pancakes if you don't have buckwheat)
- 1 medium egg
- decent pinch of salt
- 500 ml (2 cups) milk or whey leftover from making Greek yogurt or ricotta* (or water if you don't have these things on hand)
- 250 g (1 cup) ricotta*
- 6-8 cubes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and excess water squeezed out
- 200 g (1 1/2 cups) frozen peas, defrosted
- grating fresh nutmeg or 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes or passata
- large handful grated cheese (hard cheese like Cheddar)
- snipped fresh chives or roughly chopped parsley to serve, optional
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To make the galettes: whisk all the ingredients together until completely combined. Should be a thin batter, pouring consistency. Heat a knob of butter or coconut oil in a frying or crepe pan and pour in a ladleful of pancake batter, swirling the pan until the batter reaches the edges of the pan and covers the whole of it as thinly as possible. Allow to cook for 1-2 mins, then flip and cook the other side for 1 min until browned lightly on both sides. Set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining batter.
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Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. To make the filling, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth, or mix by hand until combined. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of the filling into the centre of each pancake, then fold the top and bottom end over slightly and roll the pancake from the left to the right until you have a completely contained filling in a rolled up pancake.
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Repeat with the rest of the filling and pancakes, placing them seam side down into a large casserole or roasting dish. Cover with a thin layer of passata or chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with a generous helping of grated cheese. Season and bake for 15-20 mins, until the pancakes have crisped up slightly on their edges, the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Serve hot, ideally with a peppery salad like rocket, watercress or lamb's lettuce.
*you can find my 20 minute ricotta recipe here
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