KW: Cheesy Veggie Pancakes

Yesterday and today had been so warm, I welcomed the weather with open arms! I made this when it was cold, windy and rainy the days before when I wanted something a little heavier.

This is the first time I've tried this particular recipe from the cookbook Kuchnia Wegetariańska. I can't say it's the best recipe I've tried from the cookbook, but it was pretty good and made a good amount - it kept me well fed for three days! It's also a pretty cheap recipe, so it suited me well as a student with limited budget. I didn't end up using all the pancakes made out of this recipe for this recipe. I had some with icing sugar sprinkled on top and it brought me back to my childhood. My grandmother used to serve pancakes this way for my siblings and I because we used to live with her often as my parents were quite busy back then. Can't wait for summer break to come so I get to go home! Looking forward to July :)

Pancakes with Vegetables and Cheese Sauce

from Kuchnia Wegetariańska by Jenny Stacey

Serves 4

Ingredients

Pancakes:

100g plain flour (all purpose)

A pinch of salt

1 egg, beaten

300ml milk

Vegetable oil, to pan fry

Filling:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 leek, sliced thinly

½ teaspoon chilli powder (I used a teaspoon)

½ teaspoon cumin (I used a teaspoon)

50g sugar snap peas

100g button mushrooms, sliced

1 red capsicum (bell pepper), julienned

25g cashew nuts

Sauce:

25g vegetarian margarine (I used butter)

25g plain flour (all purpose)

150ml vegetable stock

150ml milk

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

75g cheddar cheese, grated

2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro), chopped

Instructions:

1.       Filling: Heat up the oil in a frying pan and sauté the leek for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

2.       Sauce: Melt the margarine in a pot. Add the flour and mix well. Cook for 1 minute before removing from the heat. Add the stock and the milk slowly, and whisk. Return to heat and cook until the sauce thickens, while stirring. Remove from heat. Add the mustard, cheese and coriander leaves and mix until cheese is melted.

3.       Pancakes: Stir the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the egg and milk, whisk to mix well. In a frying pan (non-stick), add some oil (I brushed the surface with oil). Ladle in an eighth of the pancake batter and tilt the pan to cover the surface. It was about a ladle and a half for me to form 8 pancakes. Cook for 2 minutes on one side, and flip. Cook the other side for about 1 minute.

4.       Assembly: Scoop about an eighth of the vegetable filling onto a pancake. Roll the pancake up and place it into a baking dish/casserole seam side down. Repeat the steps to use up all the pancakes. Pour the cheese sauce on top.

5.       Finishing: Place the baking dish under a hot grill (broiler) until the top is nice and golden. I heat up mine at about 200 degrees Celcius for about 10-15 minutes

how it looked like in the baking dish