Category: Vegetarian

Truffled Celeriac velouté with crispy pancetta

reaches the parts other root vegetables cant reach

First off let’s differentiate between “Celeriac” and “Celery”. Celeriac is the knobbly root vegetable of the species Apium Graviolens and Celery is the name given to the stalks of the same species. Now apparently (not having the greenest of fingers) some varieties are grown for their knobbly roots and some for the stalks.

I personally associate Celery with a series of advertisements for “Philadelphia” cream cheese that featured the white goo spread on stringy celery sticks and Barbie doll women coyly purring “It is my birthday” as if a bit of cream cheese on a watery vegetable stick was as much excitement as they were allowed.  I am (you might have guessed) not a fan of celery but celeriac…that is a whole different ball game.

Just as celery suggests denial and austerity celeriac suggests excess, enjoyment and seduction. Yes I know, seduction by celeriac seems a little far fetched but persevere… Celeriac adds luscious creaminess, a hint of something slightly aniseedy and if generations of Romanians are to believed, it reaches the parts other root vegetables can’t. To benefit most from its legendary properties Romanians suggest eating it raw and certainly combined with apples, walnuts and carrots and a little mayonnaise in the style of a French remoulade – the Romanian “cruditati” salad is winsome.

But with a little truffle oil added celeriac becomes a truly magical affair – the creamy celeriac giving great texture and the truffle oil giving an olfactory kick.

No special equipment is needed for this recipe. I try not to overboil the celeriac but it does need to be quite soft for this soup. If you feel very cheffy you can strain it through a sieve or a “chinois” – I probably should but life is short and the texture is pretty heavenly anyway. I do always make this soup with real stock – if you are going to invest in truffle oil then it deserves a bit of body.

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Stuffed Pancakes with Eggplant and Ricotta in Tomato Sauce

Stuffed Pancakes with Eggplant and Ricotta in Tomato Sauce

Eggplant aside from whiskers on kittens and raindrops on roses is one of my favourite things. If you too pop eggplant and ricotta rolls as if they were sweets, think that “salata de vinete” with onions is totally acceptable breakfast fare, take second helpings of moussaka, polish off the entire bowl of moutabal yourself when “sharing” mezze  and don’t notice that there is no meat in “melanzane parmigiana” then you might like this amalgamation. Beer, eggplant, tomato sauce and Ricotta  (or in Romania “Urda” the local whey cheese) in one dish – how can this not taste good?

Its eggplant bonanza time in August so a good time of year to combine over ripe tomatoes into a tomato sauce, the local Romanian “Urda” which is the same stuff as the oh so trendy and oh so overpriced imported Italian ricotta with the bounteous plump purple torpedoes.

Gadgets & Gizmos

A ceramic or glass dish to bake the finished pancakes in – square or rectangular works best.

Timeline & Planning

If you don’t have approx 750ml-1litre of tomato sauce to hand and some crepes then making all from scratch needs a little planning. I actually make the pancakes while the veggies are roasting so that all you need to do is mix the filling, blitz the sauce, assemble and bake.  But yes the dish is a bit fiddly so I tend to make batches of tomato sauce and batches of pancakes as both are versatile and useful things.

Ingredients:   serves four as a main course

8 pancakes (Crêpes à la bière)

750ml- 1 litre of tomato sauce (Lemon Squeezy Tomato Sauce)

For the filling:

Two Medium size eggplant approx 1kg

300-400g Ricotta (you don’t want all cheese and no eggplant). I recently used “Urda de capra” or goat Urda and the sheep version is fabulous too.

100g parmesan

salt, pepper, nutmeg

How To

Slice the eggplant into thick slices and place on an oiled baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Bake for approximately one hour.  The eggplant does need to be cooked and not shoeleathery like so many badly made grilled vegetable side dishes that give grilled eggplant a bad name. Part of eggplant’s allure is that creamy texture when it is properly cooked.

Chop the eggplant roughly into cubes and mash in the cheese and approximately two thirds of the parmesan. I add a little nutmeg, salt and pepper and sometimes a little fresh thyme.

Spoon two good tablespoons of filling onto a pancake and squish it down a bit with the pancake rolled over. This is actually easier than it sounds. Tuck in the ends (although not vital) so the pancakes fit the dish and place in the dish. Cover with tomato sauce and bake.

Pour over the tomato sauce, sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top and bake in the oven at 180C for 30 minutes until the cheese is nicely browned.

Serve with a green salad and a glass of something cold.

Beer Pancakes

Ever since I hosted “Pancake day” parties in London with piles of crepes crammed with savoury fillings I have used beer for savoury pancakes.  I love the slightly sour earthy taste it endows upon a dish without outshining the filling ingredients or perhaps I have a crepe sniffing habit? Anyhow they do smell uber delicious when you cook them and the beery aromas waft through your kitchen. Own brand supermarket beer is cheaper than milk in case you needed any further convincing that beer in pancakes is a good idea.

If you feel confident you can try making square parcels “Bretagne” style but I mainly just add the filling and fold over until the filling is how I want it.  There are as many fillings as there are leftovers in a fridge but here are some of my favourites:

Goats Cheese and Red Onion marmalade, Ratatouille, Chicken Forestiere (left over chicken & mushroom pie filling is great too especially with leeks), leeks&bacon&cheddar, Egg & ham, Green Lentils and bacon, Spinach & ricotta

Gadgets & Gizmos

A good pancake pan or frying pan that you have used before and are comfortable with and a spatula to flip the pancakes over.

Timing & Planning

Pancakes can be whipped up at a moments notice although I do think they are better if the batter has been standing 1-2 hours (in the fridge not standing around in a warm kitchen!).  Each pancake should take 2-3 minutes to cook only.  If you are hosting a pancake party do make them ahead and then you just need to warm with the fillings.  Make a batch and freeze them and use them for any stuffed pancake recipe.

Ingredients:   (makes 10 x 22cm pancakes)

500ml of beer (a lager type of beer or blond beer for this filling)

250g plain flour or 125g plain flour and 125g buckwheat (faiana de hrisca) flour for a really Brittany earthy flavour which I love. 100% buckwhaet for GF people but you may need extra egg.

3 eggs

60ml sunflower oil

(For 6 pancakes and a glass of beer for the cook use 340ml beer, 2 eggs, 40ml oil and 170g flour)

How To:

Mix all the ingredients together using a handwhisk until just combined. Leave at least one hour (good to leave overnight) until bubbles form.

Use a ladle to pour in the batter to a hot frying pan and swirl around so the batter just coats the pan. Pour off any excess fast and remember how much you added so from pancake number two they will all be perfect. When the pancake kind of starts to curl up at the edges and lift from the pan it can be safely flipped over ( I use a long spatula) The pancakes should be golden brown. Stack them up on a plate as you make them.  I find pancake making kind of hypnotic but perhaps it’s the beer vapours?

They should be nice and flexible and be easily filled and rolled up. They freeze well too. Freeze flat in a plastic bag. If you have used bits of baking paper then use these to stack between but I find that mine dont stick together and besides I feel guilty using so much paper to stack pancakes.