Guest Recipe: Tom's Golden Sweet Potato Crepes with Beetroot & Goats Cheese

In Tom's house, pancakes form both the main and pudding element of Shrove Tuesday. Afterall, the ingredients are the same as the mix for a Yorkshire Pudding so why limit it to just dessert? Indeed, in France crepes are served in restaurants with a wide array of fillings ranging from garlic mushrooms, ham, cheese and tomatoes – alongside ice creams, chocolate, nuts etc…

This recipe for Golden Sweet Potato Crepes with Beetroot and Goats Cheese dresses up the humble crepe into something very special. The batter is slightly thicker than a usual pancake mix but this helps to make for a rich and filling meal. A little goes a long way so the quantities here will easily serve 4-6 hungry adults as a main meal.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Serves: 4-6 People

Category: Lunch,Dinner,Pancakes & Waffles

Ingredients

For the pancakes
• 1 sweet potato (350g approx.)
• 3 free range eggs
• 150g plain flour
• 500ml milk
• 1tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• Salt & pepper

For the filling

• 1 medium red onion
• 500g cooked beetroot (in natural juice, not vinegar)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ lemon – juice only
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 tsp pine nuts or chopped almonds
• Salt & pepper
• 120g rocket leaves
• 150g log of soft garlic and herb goats cheese

Method

1. Wash and prick the sweet potato and place into an oven at 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 and bake for 45 minutes. I tend to do this while cooking the evening meal the day before I make this recipe to save time. Allow the potato to cool fully before using to prep the pancake batter.
2. To make the batter, cut the cooled potato in half length ways and spoon out the orange flesh. Pop this into a liquidiser alongside all the other batter ingredients and blitz to form a smooth liquid. Pop this to one side to rest while you pre the filling.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 5 and line a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
4. Peel and slice the red onion into rings, separating the sections with your fingers as you sprinkle them onto the baking tray. Open the pack of beetroot over the sink and rinse each beet under a cold running tap. Dice the beetroots into cubes and toss over the red onions in the pan before sprinkling over the pine nuts or chopped almonds.
5. Shake together the oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper, paprika and dried thyme in an old jam jar and pour over the beetroot and onions. Smoosh everything together before popping into the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
6. While the beetroot is cooking, make up your pancakes. Heat a dry non-stick fry pan over a medium heat for a minute or so. Remove the pan from the heat and pour about 120ml batter into the pan before gently swirling around to form a disc. If you find the batter doesn’t spread out fully, use a silicone spatula to carefully spread it out.
7. Return the pan to the heat and cook for about 60-90 seconds before turning. You will know when the pancake is ready to turn because the top will have set and the edges will start to curl upwards. Turn the pancake and cook for a further 45-60 seconds on the other side. Remove the pancake from the pan and stack, using either squares of kitchen roll or greaseproof paper to stop the pancakes sticking together. Repeat this step until all the batter is used up.
8. Crumble the log of goats cheese into a bowl so that you have clumps of cheese about the size of a small grape.
9. When the beetroot is ready, remove from the oven and assemble your crepes. I place a warm crepe on a plate before spooning on some of the hot beetroot and onions down the middle of the pancake. Top with some rocket leaves and sprinkle over a little goats cheese before rolling the pancake up. Repeat this until all the beetroot and crepes are used up – about 10-12 in total. Serve with some extra rocket leaves and enjoy.

Tom Frizell-Shackley is a food writer, recipe developer and freelance PR consultant, based in the north of England. He lives with his partner, son, three spaniels and four rescued ex-battery chickens. Since 2019, he has published recipes and kitchen tips for his Kitchen Notes food blog. If you like what you see, visit his blog for more irresistible recipes!