Breton Galettes Complete

It’s pancake day in the UK and there’s no getting out of it – the boy wants pancakes, and so pancakes it must be. We’re not tossing them though as we remember what happened last year. This is a Breton recipe – we’re having ours with eggs, cheese and ham – known as a complete. This makes 6 but they do freeze. I’m assuming you’ll want 2 each. The boy may well manage 3.

112g buckwheat flour

112g plain flour

1 tsp salt

250ml milk

250ml water

60g butter

6 large organic free range eggs

6slices thin deli ham, chopped up

200g grated Swiss cheese

Sift the flours together with the salt. Make a well and pour in half the milk. Whisk to a smooth paste. Add the remaining milk in two batches, mixing really well each time to get it lump free. Normally I’d let it rest but he wants pancakes and so there is no time.

You need to heat a 30cm griddle pan or crepe pan – wipe it first with the butter and some kitchen paper. Test a drop of batter on the surface – it will set straight away if it’s hot enough. Ladle a small amount of batter into the centre of the pan and use a spatula or pallet knife to spread it thinly across the surface of the pan.

Now for the fun. Carefully break an egg into the middle of the crepe. Use the spatula to thin the white across the surface without breaking the yolk. Sprinkle some ham and cheese over the whole surface. As  the crepe sets and browns on the bottom, fold each edge over the egg white into the middle so it forms a square with just the yolk showing through the whole in the top. The egg white should be set and the yolk still soft.

Slide it off the pan with the spatula and on to the plate.

You can’t really make these to eat together as they cook one at a time, but that’s part of it. Wipe down the griddle and re-butter before starting again. My tip – for a quiet life make his 2^nd one before starting yours – it will buy you breathing space.