Farinata

Also known as socca, farinata is a simple Italian flatbread type of pancake made of chickpea flour. I've made it before with Ottolenghi's recipe, but wanted to try Ruby Tandoh's recipe with rosemary and garlic, which actually tasted better if you ask me. It's quick and easy to make, and nice with a salad or something on the side.

Makes 8-10 large pancakes

8 tbsp olive oil, plus more for greasing
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 sprigs rosemary
300g chickpea flour (gram flour)
1 tsp salt
Black pepper, to taste
500ml water

1. In a small saucepan over a medium-low heat, cook the olive oil, garlic and the leaves from two rosemary sprigs until the garlic is sizzling. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool. If it sits around for a while, even better – the flavour from the rosemary and garlic will have longer to infuse.

2. Combine the chickpea flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Strain in the infused oil through a sieve (discarding the rosemary leaves and garlic), and add a little of the water. Stir to combine, then add the remaining water gradually until the mixture slackens to the consistency of a thick batter.

3. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan until hot. Spoon in enough of the batter to coat the bottom of the pan. While the upper surface of the bread is still wet, sprinkle on a few rosemary leaves from the remaining sprig. Once the upper surface has set (this won't take more than a minute or two) flip the pancake and cook for a further couple of minutes, or until golden brown in patches.

4. Repeat until all the remaining batter has been used, making sure that the pan is well‑oiled each time.

Plenty: Green pancakes with lime butter

I have been waiting for the perfect time to make these for brunch. I bought the ingredients last week so that I could make them over the Midsummer long weekend. Unfortunately, I was struck down with a flu on the first day, and my cooking plans have been thwarted somewhat since. I did, however, make these green pancakes with lime butter as planned with substantial help from a friend. The trouble is, I've been sick all weekend with a flu and can't taste a thing! My co-chef/co-bruncher said they were tasty ('they taste like spinach') and that the lime butter was a taste explosion. The lime was actually all I could make out. What a waste. I'll have to make them again soon and try them properly myself. It's Ottolenghi though, so I'm sure they will be delicious! This is what they looked like. I bought red chillies instead of green ones by accident, otherwise they should be entirely green pancakes.

 

Plenty: Leek fritters

I've been glancing longingly at the recipe for these Turkish-inspired leek fritters for a while. Leek pancakes - how could anyone say no? This takes a while to prepare, mainly because it entails chopping and frying a few things like leeks and shallots, plus there's a host of others things to measure out for the rest of the batter, like spices including cumin, coriander and cinnamon (!). I had a couple of unnecessary casualties too owing to my carelessness: I rubbed my eye with fingers after chopping chili (eyeball was on fire) and at some point i burned the tips of my thumbs (don't know when, but now they are a little sore and red). It was well worth all the physical pain though. These shot straight to at least my top 5 Ottolenghi recipes. The cinnamon in particular threw off the cumin, coriander and tumeric in a wonderful way. I don't think I'll make the sauce (greek yogurt, parsley, coriander, garlic, lemon juice) next time though. It was nice, but I think just a drizzle of lemon juice on top is a more refreshing way of enjoying these guys and their interesting flavours.