Potato and Mushroom Blintzes.

‘What the hell is a blintz?’ Exactly what I was thinking when I noticed this recipe in ‘Veganomicon’. It is, in fact, just a posh name for a pancake parcel but it makes food sound so much more gourmet so why not use this fancy label? I used ‘No-egg’ to make the pancakes but there are loads of different egg substitutes on the market as well as homemade options. The rest of the ingredients are all things you’ll have lying around so it’s a good last minute option if you cba going to the shops.

Cooking time: 5 mins making pancake mix earlier in the day and then about 45mins before serving.

Pancakes
1½ [360ml] Cups of soymilk (or rice milk)
¼ [60ml] Cup of water
1 Cup of plain flour (or combinations of chickpea and plain if you feel like being fancy)
½ Teaspoon of salt

Blintzes
1 pancake mix (I made blintzes for 2 so only used about ¾ of the mix and had the rest for pudding)
½ Pound of potatoes, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped.
½ Pound of mushrooms, sliced (I used chestnut mushrooms and they were lush)
Salt, pepper and olive oil
Serves 3

Earlier in the day:
1. Whisk all the pancake ingredients together to get a smooth viscous liquid. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour.

About 45 mins before you want to eat:
2.Get the potatoes boiling (leave for about 25 mins or until they get squishy enough to mash)
3. Start frying the onion in a little olive oil. After 12 mins add the mushrooms and continue to fry until the mushrooms are cooked. (Try one!)

 4. Fry the pancakes, you should hopefully get about 8 out of the mix, layer them on a plate.

5. Drain and then mash the potato, adding a little salt and pepper. (I’d recommend adding wholegrain mustard here as I’m addicted to the stuff but as I was cooking for my dad as well I just added it on the side of our plates)

6. ‘Fold’ the mushroom mix into the mash potato.

7. Place 3 tablespoons of this mixture in the centre of a pancake in an oval shape, fold over the two long sides of the pancake and then the two shorter sides over these.

8. Fry this package, folds facing downwards, until it has sealed well then turn over for a further 30 seconds frying and then remove and plate up. Do this with the rest of the pancakes; three or four can be frying at once depending on your blintz-making-speed.  I made some ‘Bisto favourite’ gravy to go with them and added wholegrain mustard on the side but green beans would be a nice addition for a bit more variety.

Feeble attempt at a fancy finishing touch.

It’s probably worth mentioning here that I always put my plates in the microwave or oven for a while before serving to warm them a little as more often than not there’s one part of my meal which isn’t quite ready at the same time as everything else and this helps to keep everything hot.

I had enough batter left after the blintzes for three more pancakes so I loaded them up with some dark brown sugar and lemon juice for pud. ‘Veganomicon’ states that the pancakes can be kept in the fridge for just over a week so it might be worth making double the amount and heating them up in a frying pan for a breakfast treat later in the week!