food to glow

This sounds unusual – you may think I have finally lost my mind – but if you dare make these, I promise you will be glad you did. Fashionable rye flour is subtly nutty, and as smooth as wheat flour  Rye and cocoa/chocolate are perfect partners, and the ricotta, smoked chipotle paste, honey and dried pineapple are simply gorgeous in this. Andrew pretty much ate every last scrap, and wiped the bowl clean with his fingers.

I also make this with chickpea flour, adding cocoa and the rest of the non-flour ingredients as listed. That version is a bit more of an acquired taste, but would be a perfect way of getting a high-protein, gluten-free and “real food” pancake without premixed flours.

Filling (for up to four pancakes)

175g ricotta (here’s a recipe for sweet vegan ricotta)

½ tsp smoked chilli paste* (more to taste, once you mix it all up)

1 tbsp best honey*

40g dried pineapple, chopped in smaller pieces – divided use

Easy Chocolate Sauce

50-75g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tbsp almond milk (2 ½ tbsp if using 75g chocolate)

Pancakes

50g rye flour

50g light spelt flour – or all chickpea flour (100g)

1 rounded tbsp cocoa powder or cacao

1 tbsp date syrup or maple syrup or sugar

1/16 tsp of salt

100ml water

2 tsp organic rapeseed oil or coconut oil (the latter will alter the flavour of the pancakes) + oil for the pan

* if you have Gran Luchito’s smoked chilli honey, then use 1 rounded teaspoon of this to replace the chilli paste and the honey. It’s delicious stuff.

Method

1. Mix together the ricotta, smoked chilli paste, honey and 30g of the pineapple; set aside.

2. Heat the chocolate and milk over a bain-marie/bowl over a pan of just-simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch); stirring when the chocolate starts to melt. Keep warm.

3. Place the dry ingredients for the pancakes in a mixing bowl and dry-whisk together. Add half of the water and all of the oil and mix until smooth; whisk in the remaining water. If you can let this sit for 10 minutes, do.

4. Heat a lightly oiled sauté or griddle pan over a medium-high heat. Drop a fleck of batter into the pan. If it sizzles immediately, pour in enough batter to fill two-thirds of the bottom of the pan then swirl to distribute to the edge. Cook until bubbles form and the edges are nearly dry when you slide a spatula underneath. Flip and continue cooking until they are cooked through. It’s a bit hard to tell with dark pancakes, but about 2-3 minutes of each side should be right. Make up as many pancakes as you like – up to four large ones.

5. Lay the pancakes onto plate and evenly fill with the ricotta mixture; roll up and drizzle with chocolate sauce and dot with the remaining pineapple, or slice of fresh pineapple. Eat immediately. Enjoy.