Bessarabian Pancakes

This recipe came about when I was working at The Famous Creg-Ny-Baa (on the Isle of Man). As one of two full time Chefs there, it was our job to come up with a list of specials everyday and one of those had to be a starter. I then remembered reading in a book about stuffed pancakes from Bessarabian (a region in modern day Moldova) and thought they would make a nice, tasty little started for all our customers because it also was vegetarian. After making them up and we tried them, my boss suggested that a sauce would really help, I agreed with him and thought a light chilli and tomato sauce would be the call.

This is also the first Skill 2 recipe posted, I put it as such because it does need more concentration than the previous recipes and has three main components.

The ingredients needed are:-

For the Pancake;

4 eggs, beaten

3tbsp butter, melted

250ml single cream

250ml soda water

175g plain flour

pinch of salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

olive oil for frying

For the filling;

350g feta cheese, crumbled

50g Parmesan Cheese, grated

40g butter

1 clove of garlic, crushed

450g Spinach (If using fresh, rough chop, if using frozen drain it and squeeze as much water out as you can)

For the Sauce;

400g tin Chopped Tomatoes (you can use fresh if you want)

2tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

2 chillies, roasted, peeled and chopped.

1tbsp dried basil

1tsp sugar

pinch of salt and pepper

So first lets make the Pancake batter, you can do this by putting the eggs, butter, cream and water into a food processor and turning on, then adding the flour and salt into it until fully combined. Those with a food processor can put the flour and salt into a bowl, then form a well in the centre, in another bowl combine the eggs, butter, cream and water and then whilst whisking pour into the flour until fully combined. Leave the batter to rest for about 15 minutes. Then grease a small frying pan (about 15cm) and put on a medium heat. When hot, pour about 4 tablespoons of the batter into the pan, tilt the pan lightly to help the mixture spread. Cook for about a minute and a half then turn over and cook for about a minute. Turn out onto a plate and get a nice stack, leave to cool. 

For the filling add to a bowl the feta, parmesan, butter and garlic. Mix together well and then add the spinach, mix thoroughly. Now you can put into the pancakes. Grab a pancake from your stack and put about 3tbsp of the mixture in the centre of it. Brush a little of the egg white around the edge and then fold it over. Press the edges down well so that it seals, put onto a greaseproof lined baking tray. Repeat for all pancakes. 

For the sauce put all the ingredients into a pan and heat for about 10 minutes, simmering nicely. Then blend until smooth, then taste and correct seasoning.

Heat the oven to 200oC and place the pancakes inside for 10 minutes, take out and put on a plate, drizzle some of the sauce on top and serve.

This can be a delicious lunchtime meal or tasty snack, as well as a great start to a larger meal.

And as they say in Moldova Poftă bună!