Quesadilla Pancakes with a speedy Mexican bean filling
These quesadilla pancakes are a brilliant little meal idea for pancake day, or any day of the year. They're a cool way to make quesadillas from store cupboard bits if you're out of wheat tortillas, and the speedy Mexican-inspired bean filling is delicious, healthy and ready in minutes.
Tweak the spices to your liking and serve with a dollop of cooling sour cream or Greek yoghurt if you like. A word of advice about the quantities of pancake mixture in this recipe - if you're not that confident at making pancakes make double the mixture as the quantities here make 6-7 pancakes in a 24cm frying pan which is just enough for this recipe.
Quesadilla Pancakes with a speedy Mexican bean filling
Makes: 6 (serves 2-3 adults)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
For the pancakes (makes 6 but easily doubled):
1 medium egg, whisked
200ml semi-skimmed milk
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
80g plain flour, sieved
Pinch of salt
Sunflower oil for frying
For the filling:
2 x 400g tins red kidney beans, drained
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chilli flakes (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
100g grated cheese
Handful chopped fresh coriander (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
METHOD:
Start by making the batter for the pancakes. Whisk together the egg, milk and oil. Sieve over the flour and salt. Mix until just combined. The mixture can be kept in the fridge over night until you need it.
To make the filling, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Roughly mash the kidney beans a couple of times with a fork to break a couple of them up to help the mixture bind together. Tip the mixture onto a large plate and split it into 6 equal portions. Put to one side.
Get ready to make the pancakes, put a 24cm non-stick frying pan on the hob over a medium to high heat. Grease it with a little vegetable oil and wipe away any excess oil with kitchen paper. More pancake making tips.
Take the pan from the heat and ladle in enough batter to make a thin round pancake without any extra batter pooling on top of the pancake. Tilt the pan around to spread the batter around as soon as you add it to the pan. Cook for around 30 - 60 seconds on the first side. When it's ready to turn the whole thing will easily lift off the pan as you slide the spatula underneath it and it will be golden brown.
Flip it over and immediately place one portion of the beany filling on one half the pancake. Fold the other half of the pancake over the filling to make a half moon shape and press it down a little with your spatula. Cook for about 30 seconds until the cheese starts to melt, then flip it over and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Cook until the filling is hot and the cheese has melted.
Repeat steps 3-5 until you have 6 quesadilla pancakes. Keep warm until you are ready to serve. Serve with a little sour cream and some extra smoked paprika if you like.
