Polish Ham and Cheese baked Pancakes with Hardy's

First things first - before cooking this delightful dish make sure you have allocated enough time – it doesn’t take that long to actually cook but rushing around to make twelve pancakes, one by one is awfully time consuming whilst also crumbling up cheese, slicing ham, along with preparing a tray of potatoes and squash, and it results in a lovely, rather messy cheese splattered kitchen!

 

You see normally I am quite organised in the kitchen but I had got home late from work, and really fancied a cup of tea. So that’s what I did. So in turn I ran late, though in the end it all worked out fairly fine except for some slightly soggy broccoli. No one complained anyway that it was a bit late and we all had seconds, so I am not sure really why I get into such a tizz! I do like being punctual even if I am working to my own little schedule in my head! Though I may at one point declared if I were to offer pancakes again presume I have gone crazy!

I think I may have mentioned before that my roots are a little bit Polish but I have never really explored Polish cuisine other than picking up the odd packet of ready made Pierogi (and the fun time I accidentally bought sweet cheese ones and served with a garlic butter sauce!) and this recipe by no means is particularly Polish in origin, though it does use a rather tasty ham called Szynka Swojska, which was wrapped in some kind of netting and proved fun to remove, plus a cheese that was labelled as being a soft cheese, but on opening it was actually rather crumbly upon touch and more resembled a cottage type cheese but without the watery gloop part! I will have to look next time in the Polish shop more closely to find its other name! Fortunately it also melted into the ham fairly well! I think next time I would add more cheese - as the last few pancakes were on the skinny side!

 

Recently I was sent a bottle of Hardy's 'Stamp of Australia' Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir - its a new variety on me and I am a fan! When it comes to sparkling wines I do like Champagne but I can't afford it and normally we tend to buy Prosecco for special occasions, though this sparkling Chardonnay is definitely a serious competitor! I am no wine buff but I really liked the lightness of this one, its small bubbles bursting with a light citrus note on the tongue with an almost creamy, smooth roundness to it makes it most drinkable for all tastes! My boyfriend is not normally a fan of chardonnay as it tends to be drier (perfect for me!) but even he enjoyed this without adding a splash of raspberry syrup! It complements the smoked ham and slightly sour cheese flavours very well but even on its own its a very pleasant glass of bubbly. A keeper!

 

Serves 4-6

Pancakes:

180g plain flour
5 eggs
400ml milk
Pinch salt

Sauce:

250ml milk
250ml water
1 heaped tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
6 tbsp grated extra mature cheddar
2 tbsp cornflour
6 cherry tomatoes, halved

Filling:

500g diced Szynka Swojska (cooked ham) cut into small strips
275g Polish soft cheese  - crumbled

For frying - butter or spray oil

A large sheet of greaseproof paper -

Start by making the pancakes. Sift together the flour, salt and beat in the eggs. Add the milk bit by bit to form a smooth batter. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a heavy based frying pan and add a little butter or spray oil, add a ladleful of batter and swirl around quickly to form a thin pancake. Cook for about two minutes then flip, and cook for a further minute or until cooked through. Place on the prepared baking paper, and repeat with remaining batter to form roughly 12 pancakes.  Alternate the cooked pancakes with the greasing paper to stop them sticking to each other.

When your pancakes are all prepared, pre-heat oven to 200o. Lightly grease two large baking dishes.

Place a pancake on a board or clean counter. Spoon over ham and a litte cheese, roll up and place seal side down in the dish. Repeat with remaining until all filled.

Meanwhile boil together the milk, water and bouillon. Slacken the cornflour with a little water and when the milk mixture is boiling, stir in the prepared cornflour paste, whisking all the time until thickened. Add the rosemary and 2 tbsp of the cheese. Pour over the prepared pancakes and sprinkle over the remaining cheese and tomato halves.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Sorry there are no pictures of it plated it - it was gobbled up fast by my family and lovely neighbour who popped around for her share as she had never had them baked before! For the record I served mine with broccoli, and a tray of roasted new potatoes with cubes of butternut squash.


Many thanks to Hardy's for the wine samples. All opinions, text and photography remain the property of Anne's Kitchen and prior permission must be sought before use elsewhere.