Have you ever
had a dutch baby? It’s not the most common of dishes here in Perth, but I
absolutely love them because of how versatile and easy they are. It’s
essentially one large baked pancake. And like normal pancakes, you can flavour
them up in any way you want. But unlike normal pancakes that require cooking in
batches, this is all done in one go. That makes it one of my go-to dinner
dishes for something quick after the gym. I’ll serve it with some form of
vegetable concoction to go on top. It’s also one of my go-to breakfast/brunch
dishes. It is a super quick dish to prep, and you can chuck it in the oven
while you shower, or sitting and quietly having your morning coffee…and before
you know it, you have deliciousness. If I’m making a savoury Dutch Baby, then I
love making them with chick pea flour. Both for the added protein it adds, and
more importantly, for the flavour profile it adds. Just by swapping out the
flour, you add that specific slightly smokey, slightly nutty flavour that
chickpeas have. It also makes it gluten free, if that’s an issue for you.
I didn’t get
any meat out for dinner when I cooked this dish, so I thought I’d make a
ratatouille to go with it. I always have tomatoes and zucchini in the house.
Always. And, it has been pointed out to me that I cook with booze a lot. Which
I did here. I added some gin and blood orange marmalade to add a little oomph.
If you want my
favourite version of a chickpea dutch baby, you’ll need to grab a copy of the
Recipes and Ramblings III cookbook. In it, it has the recipe for a Spicy
Chickpea Dutch Baby with a Tomato Bacon Jam.
Gin and Blood Orange Ratatouille
(serves 2)1 tbsp olive oil
2 brown onions, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp blood orange marmalade
1 shot Gin (I like West Winds Sabre or Gin Mare flavours in this)
3 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
¼ tsp thyme leaves
½ tsp salt
Pepper
Chickpea Flour
Dutch Baby
½ cup chickpea
flour¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup milk (soured with ½ tsp lime juice)
2 eggs
1 tbsp butter.
Warm the olive
oil to medium in a pot. Add the onions and cook until translucent, but not
coloured – around 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook a further 2 minutes
until that is translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and reduce to a
simmer and leave for half an hour or so until all the vegetables are soft and
the flavours have intensified. About the time it takes to make the dutch baby!
Heat the oven
to 180C
Heat a frypan
that can go into the oven to a high heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the
salt, pepper and chickpea flour. Beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Then
beat in the soured milk. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and whisk
until completely combined.
Add the butter
to the pan and swirl to coat the whole bottom of the frypan. Carefully pour the
pancake batter into the pan and tilt back and forth to coat the pan. Place in
the oven.
Bake for 20-25
minutes or until the dutch baby puffs up and is golden.
Remove from the oven carefully (the handle will be HOT. I have learnt this the hard way!). It will deflate once removed from the oven. Spoon over the ratatouille and a scoop of fresh ricotta or Greek Yoghurt
