Recipe Notes | Buckwheat Galettes

A savoury pancake with a twist, this recipe for buckwheat galettes is based on a traditional style of pancake popular in Northern France – Galettes Du Sarrasin. Served with a filling of your choice, you simply fold the corners into an open or closed envelope and place in the oven before serving.

For the first stage of the process, we used the Staub pancake pan; the large diameter of the pan means you can make large thin crepes and fluffy American style pancakes alike with ease. The pan also comes with a wooden spreader and spatula so you can try your hand at making restaurant quality crepe suzette just in time for Shrove Tuesday.

We made Florentine style buckwheat galettes with ham, spinach, cheese and an egg – and they turned out perfectly! Our recipe is below…

INGREDIENTS

For the galettes you need:

• 100g buckwheat flour
• 1 egg, beaten up
• 300ml semi-skimmed milk
• 50g soft butter at room temperature
• Olive oil Salt

Then for the filling we used some:

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C Fan.

2. Place the flour and beaten egg in a large bowl and then slowly add the milk, whisking all the time to create a smooth batter. Next, add the soft butter (melt in the microwave if easier as you do need it really super soft) and then add a pinch of salt.

3. Lightly oil the pancake pan so that the oil just covers the surface and get the pan hot but not smoking!

4. Spoon in the batter and roll around so it covers the edges. It takes a bit of practice to get the amount exactly right – not too thick, not too thin..

5. Cook the pancake and loosen the edges as you go. The great thing about the Staub pancake pan is the edges are so low it’s really easy to get to the edges without breaking them.

6. Flip the galette once the underside is lightly brown. Once the galette is lightly brown on both sides, remove it from the heat and add to a baking tray (we use bake-o-glide sheet protectors) on the tray to protect it.

7. Next we added a handful of wilted spinach (the easiest way to do this is to buy organic pre-washed spinach, open the bag and microwave for 30 seconds – it doesn’t go all soggy). Next, we added some diced ham, grated mature cheese (traditionalists will want to use comté), chives and made a small well in the middle for the egg

8. Fold the sides around to make a square, and then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Voilá, ready to serve!

Images: HM