Many cultures worldwide have a pancake or crepe traditionally made with bean flour. In Northern India there is the chilla, in Western India, the pudla. In Italy, it is called socca or farinata. Each of these variations is made with different traditional ingredients and techniques. Inspired by these recipes, today we are sharing how to make a thin, crisp gluten-free crepe that can be easily wrapped around filling. It’s spring time where we live, so our filling today will feature asparagus as it’s one of our all time favorite spring treats.
Serves: 2-4
Time: 1 hr
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus
zest from 1/2 lemon
1 bunch spring onions
salt
olive oil
For the pesto
1 bunch spinach, de-stemmed and thoroughly rinsed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and drained
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice (start with less to try)
For the Chickpea Crepe
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 cups water
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp thyme
To make the chickpea crepes, whisk together chickpea flour, salt, water, olive oil, and thyme and allow to sit for 30 minutes. While crepe batter is sitting, make the spinach pesto. Start by soaking the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water until they are plump and re-hydrated. Note, if you are using sun-dried tomatoes in oil then you can skip this re-hydrating step.
Thoroughly clean and then blanch the spinach. To blanch, bring a small pot of water, well salted, to a boil. Put a bowl of ice water next to the stove. Add the cleaned spinach to the boiling water and cook about one minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately immerse in ice water. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as you can and drain the sun-dried tomatoes. Add both to a food processor or blender along with the rest of the ingredients from the ‘For the Pesto’ list. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Heat a small amount of oil in large flat pan. Once the oil is hot, add 1/3 cup of chickpea batter to the hot pan. Tilt the pan to spread out the batter, and cook until golden brown and crispy on one side. Be patient, when the bottom is golden brown and crispy, the edges of the top will be starting to show color. Flip the crepe over and cook until speckled with golden brown on the second side. Cooking crepes to have a crisp but flexible texture takes some practice. Some tips are make sure your oil is hot before you add the batter. Don’t add too much batter. Allow the first side to cook until an even color is achieved before flipping. Remember, the first pancake rule applies to crepes as well. Your first crepe might come out under cooked and crumbly. Don’t be discouraged, keep cooking, be patient, and future crepes will be better.
Turn on the oven to broil. Rinse the asparagus and trim about 1/2 inch off the bottom. Arrange on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp of salt and put in the broiler. Note, depending on your oven, this could be the top shelf, or a drawer at the bottom. Broil the asparagus for 7 minutes, remove and flip, and broil another 7 minutes for a total of 14 minutes of cooking time. The asparagus should be golden brown. Set aside to cool slightly. Once these are cool enough to touch (but still warm) slice into 1 inch long pieces. This is an optional step, but will make the food much easier to eat as otherwise the asparagus can become stringy when you bite into it.
Cut the spring onions lengthwise into thin pieces 3 inches long each. Fry in oil until golden brown. Salt and remove. Put them on a plate or piece of paper bag.
To assemble, spread the pesto on the crepe then add asparagus. Sprinkle with crispy spring onions and lemon zest. Form this into a hand wrap and enjoy!