Thursday, September 19

Gratinated Pancake stuffed with Rainbow Chard, Iron Bark Squash & Dorset Blue Vinney


I almost forgot to post this - the photo lay languishing on my Iphone until now. Chard is a great vegetable, although granted, it may be a little hard to find this late in the season. Don't get too hung up on what to stuff the pancakes with, use your imagination. With chard, you pretty much get two vegetables in one as the leaf can be treated like spinach and the stems are more celery like in texture and need slow cooking. A cracking little veggie dish to keep the non-meat eaters happy. Makes four

Pancake Ingredients:
Plain Flour - 110g
Salt - pinch
2 eggs
Milk - 200ml
Water - 75ml
Butter for frying

Bechamel Ingredients:
Milk - 500ml
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove
1 good pinch of nutmeg
A good grind of black pepper and a pinch of salt.
50g butter
50g flour

Filling:
1 small onion - peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
500g of Ironbark or another squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
500g Chard - washed, leaves separated from stems and shredded
200g Dorset Blue Vinney
Grated cheddar
Olive oil

Method:
Make your pancake batter by beating all the ingredients until smooth. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium high heat. Add a knob of butter and swirl around the pan. Add 1/4 of the batter and swirl around the pan to get a nice even layer and a circular shape. Cook until the underside is golden then flip and cook to the same degree on the flipped side. Remove from the pan to a plate, allow to cool and repeat until the batter is used up.

Toss the squash in a little oil and season well. Roast in a medium oven until soft. Infuse your milk in a large pan by gently warming to just below boiling with the onion, clove, nutmeg salt and pepper. 

Gently fry the onion, chard stems and garlic until soft and starting to colour. Add the squash, crumbled blue cheese and season well. 

Make a roux with the butter and flour then add the hot milk straining out the infusion ingredients beforehand. Bring to the simmer and allow to bubble gently for a minute or two stirring all the time. 

Add the chard leaf to the squash mix and allow to wilt. Assemble the dish by placing 1/4 of the squash mix in the centre of each pancake, fold over the edges to make a square. Flip over so the edges are underneath in an over proof bowl. Top with béchamel and grated cheese. Flash under a hot grill until bubbling and golden.

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