Pancake ideas

Many of us like to mark Shrove Tuesday with pancakes. I make up a stack in advance because I can’t keep up with the demand, once the everyone starts eating them. You can make a whole meal with pancakes, savoury or sweet, so here are a few ideas. I’m sure that people have their own favourite pancake recipe but here is a basic one to start with.

Mix the top 3 ingredients together with a balloon whisk or an electric blender. The mixture improves by being made an hour or two ahead and standing in the fridge. Melt the butter or oil in a frying pan until sizzling and pour a tablespoon of the mixture in. Swish round until it covers the pan and cook on a medium heat. When set underneath, toss or turn.

Orange Cream. Mix 225g of mascarpone with zest & juice of 1 orange and 50g sugar. Spread on & roll
Cheese and tomato: Cover rolled pancakes with tomato sauce and sprinkle generously with grated cheddar, then grill
Sliced Banana and Nutella. Speaks for itself
Indian Pancakes Replace the plain flour with gram (chick pea) flour & add ¼ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric and 1 tsp cumin. Fill with roughly mashed potatoes, spring onions & chopped coriander.
Ratatouille Pancakes. Make a ratatouille- fry an onion, then 2 courgettes in the same oil, then an aubergine until quite soft – this may need a little more oil adding, then a red pepper. Put all the ingredients back in the pan and heat with pepper and salt and a little paprika. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. This makes a lovely filling

Pancakes