Buckwheat galettes with eggs, cheese, and spinach

Galettes are thin, crisp buckwheat pancakes popular in Northern France. They are usually filled with cheese, eggs and spinach and then folded into a square before finishing of in the oven. They are nutritious and quick to prepare and ideal for a lunch or mid-week supper.

Once you have the hang of making these pancakes other fillings can be used such as roasted peppers, goats’ cheese, and basil; garlic, mushroom and thyme or a sweet filling such as berries flavoured with cardamom.

Makes 6 pancakes

Ingredients

For the pancakes

100g buckwheat flour

pinch of salt

1 free range egg

300ml Oat Drink

25g butter, melted

vegetable oil e.g. rapeseed oil for frying

Filling

150g spinach

150g Comté or Gruyère cheese, grated

25g butter or 60ml double cream (optional)

6 eggs

Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place the flour into a large bowl, (or the goblet of a liquidiser). Add the egg and 150ml Oat Drink and mix to a smooth paste. Mix in the remainder of the Oat Drink (or process in the liquidiser) until a thin batter is formed. Stir in the melted butter.

Warm and lightly oil a non-stick frying pan. When the pan is hot spoon in 2-3 tablespoons of batter and roll it around the pan to form a thin pancake. Flip the pancake over and cook the pancake until it is crisp. Slide the pancake out of the pan and keep to one side while you cook the remaining pancakes.

To make the filling

Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4

Line two baking trays with baking parchment and lightly oil each one. Wash and drain the spinach. Steam the spinach for two minutes over a pan of boiling water, drain well and discard the water from the pan. Return the spinach to the pan, season with salt and pepper and add a little cream or butter if using.

Lay out the pancakes on the baking trays and place a circle of spinach in the middle of each pancake. Sprinkle each pancake with grated cheese. Break an egg into a cup and pour it onto the centre of each pancake and repeat for each pancake. Fold in the edges of the galette in towards the centre of the cheese and spinach, covering the white of the egg.

Place each baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the eggs are set. Serve immediately.