(Photography by Sarka Babicka)
In honour of Shrove Tuesday, I thought I’d share another favourite from The Jewelled Kitchen (AKA Pomegranates & Pine Nuts). These semolina pancakes are known as beghrir in North Africa, which means “1000 holes”. The name refers to the multitude of holes that develop on the surface as they cook. I’ve added a levantine touch by sealing them as we do with qatayef ashta (beghrir’s cousins really) and stuffing them with clotted cream (recipe in JK but you can use ricotta). In the end, they’re given an extra dose of love with a butter made from almonds and argan oil and then sprinkled with crackly honeycomb. These babies can double up as breakfast or dessert.
- 125ml/4fl oz/1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp dried active yeast
- ¼ tsp caster sugar
- 100g/3½oz/scant ⅔ cup semolina flour (also known as fine semolina)
- 50g/1¾oz/scant ½ cup self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a pinch of fine sea salt
- 100g/3½oz/3/4 cup blanched almonds
- 4 tbsp argan oil
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 250g/9oz ricotta
- 30g/1oz honeycomb, roughly chopped
- Warm the milk in a saucepan over a low heat. Mix the yeast and sugar with 3 tablespoons of the warmed milk, then pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Reserve the remaining warm milk.
- Sift the flours, the baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining milk to the yeast mixture along with 125ml/4fl oz/1/2 cup warm water, and whisk well. Add the flour mixture a little at a time, whisking vigorously until it is well incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until the mixture is frothy and has doubled in size. If you are not making the pancakes until the next day, leave the mixture covered overnight in the fridge after it has risen.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150 C/300 F/Gas 2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 5–7 minutes until golden, shaking the pan to toss them around halfway through the cooking time. Transfer to a pestle and mortar or a small blender and grind for about 5 minutes until you get a very smooth, wet paste, stopping to scrape down the sides every once in a while. Transfer to a serving bowl and mix in the argan oil and honey. Taste and add more oil and/or honey, if you like. Leave the oven on.
- When you’re ready to cook the pancakes, whisk the batter. It should be the texture of double cream (thin with a little water, if necessary). Place a non-stick pan over a medium-low heat. Working in batches, pour 1 tablespoon of the batter into the pan to create a thin, round pancake, about 7cm/3in in diameter, tilting the pan if necessary, then repeat, spacing the pancakes slightly apart. Cook on one side for 1–2 minutes until plenty of holes have developed, the tops have set and the bottoms are golden. Stack the first batch of pancakes between sheets of parchment paper on an ovenproof plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining batter to make about 24 pancakes in total.
- To create half-moon shapes, seal the edges of the pancakes together by pinching them together only halfway along. Spoon a little ricotta into each pancake, then drizzle some of the almond butter over the top, sprinkle with honeycomb and serve.
These are so cute and sound delicious. 🙂
A local bakery makes these and they taste like shoe leather.
Yours look so lovely. I have to try to make this at home.
Thanks for the recipe, B!
And congrats on your Best Blog to Cookbook award!
So sweet and easy and superdelicious! I imagine you might fill them with all sorts of sweets or savories…hummus, pesto, salsa, etc. Many thanks for sharing the recipe. I just found you through Zizi’s Adventures so I’m off to explore the rest of your beautiful blog. Cheers! 🙂
Yum, can’t wait to give this recipe a go!