Shrove Tuesday - Crêpes

Ingredients

• 100g Plain Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 300ml Milk
• 1 tbsp Sunflower Oil

Equipment

• Frying pan
• Spatula

Method

• Sieve the flour into a bowl and dent a well into the pile.
• Crack the two eggs into the well and then add the tbsp of oil and about 50ml of your milk.
• Whisk the ingredients together until they are incorporated into a thick batter.
• Then slowly add the remaining milk as you continue whisking. Whisk until it reaches the consistency of cream.
• Put a knob of butter in your frying pan and wait until it bubbles.
• Using a ladle to help with portion control, spoon the batter into the pan and tilt it around to make a large, thin and round crêpe.
• If the pan is hot enough, the bottom of the crêpe should be golden within 30 - 60 seconds. When it is ready to turn, you can either slip your spatula underneath and use it to quickly turn it, OR you can be exciting and try to flip it in the pan. It's your choice, depending on how brave you want to be!
• When it has had the chance to cook on both sides, you can turn it out onto a plate and pop whatever fillings on it that you like! The classic is a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar,  but we have a couple of alternatives in case you wanna mix it up!

Apple And Cinammon Caramel Filling

Ingredients

• 80g Butter
• 120g Soft Brown Sugar
• 3 Apples
• 1 tbsp Cinammon Powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

• Melt the butter in a pan until it is thick and golden.
• Add the diced apples - I would not suggest using cooking apples for this, as they won't be cooking long enough to lose the tartness that cooking apples can have. Just use any old eating apples that you've got knocking around.
• Stir these around until the apples are thoroughly coated in the butter and then add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
• Cook this on a low heat until the butter and sugar has become thick and caramelly, and the apples are soft.
• Serve hot in a rolled crêpe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Spinach & Ricotta Savoury Pancakes

Ingredients; (for 3 filled pancakes)

250g Ricotta
2 Onions
Twist or two of salt and pepper
Thyme
A handful of spinach for each pancake

Method;

• Finely slice the onions and fry off in a little butter in a large pan. You want them golden but not burnt so keep and eye on them and don't let them catch. You want the onions sweet, not bitter.
• Once the onions are cooked, put to one side to cool off for a little while.
• In the meantime, beat your ricotta with a twist or two of salt and pepper (season to your personal tastes) and add a teaspoon of thyme.
• Add in the warm onions and mix together.
• Place the mix into your pancake and add fresh spinach leaves and wrap up. The spinach will wilt a little from the residual heat of the pancake and the onions but will still hold its form and flavour really well without being watery.
• Serve immediately.
  Little note: We also roasted a few tomatoes on the vine to garnish but the tomatoes taste great with the spinach and ricotta!

Verdict;

It is well known that spinach and ricotta are best friends and this is a really nice way to enjoy the combination without having a heavy meal. The thin pancakes with the thick, cheesy mix work perfectly together to deliver a real savoury hit, perfect for lunchtime tummy grumbles!