Mushroom And Goat's Cheese Crepes

I'm a bit slow with getting this post up and running, but better late than never!

Tuesday this week was Pancake Day, so I wanted to cook pancakes of some sort to celebrate. The kids had an early morning pancake breakfast at school, so dinner was going to be the meal of the day that we got to eat them together. Not being much of a sweet person, I thought I'd go along the savoury route.

Mushroom and goat's cheese are a match made in heaven, and for a vegetarian dinner option, these were delicious!

This pancake recipe is the one that my Mum uses. We always grew up with thin pancakes, more in the style of crepes, rather than thick American ones. I find them much too doughy and heavy. Adding the soda water at the end helps to thin the batter and make the crepes nice and light. If you don't have any soda and don't want to open a new bottle, just use regular water.

Because you are rolling up these crepes with a filling, it doesn't matter if they are a bit wonky! Given I only make pancakes once or twice a year, mine are never particularly round. You can also make the crepes the day before you are going to eat them, as they store well in the fridge. Anything I can do to make dinner time a bit quicker and easier is always a winner!

Savoury crepes really are so versatile and you can fill them with anything you like. Chicken and mushroom in a white sauce, spinach and feta, roasted vegetables.............The options are endless! Experiment and find a combination that you like.

Mushroom And Goat's Cheese Crepes

For the crepes

1 1/4 cups plain flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup soda water or regular water

Butter or oil spray for frying

Combine flour, eggs and milk into a smooth batter using a whisk. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Just before cooking, add the soda water and stir to combine.

Heat a crepe pan or frying pan over medium heat and brush with butter or spray lightly with oil.

Pour 1/3 cup mixture into the pan and swirl to coat the base evenly. You want crepes that are about 15-17cm in diameter and nice and thin.

When bubbles start to appear on the surface, flip with a spatula and cook the other side until lightly golden. Remove from the pan to a plate.

Repeat with the remaining mixture. You should get about 12 crepes.

Set aside to cool.

For the filling

20g butter

5 large field mushrooms, diced into medium sized pieces

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

125g soft goat's cheese (I used the herbed one, but you could use a plain one too)

A handful of fresh thyme, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large frypan on medium heat and add butter until it melts and starts to bubble.

Add onion, garlic and mushrooms and fry until the onion is lightly golden and the mushrooms have released their juices and are soft.

Add the thyme and season to taste. Continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated. You don't want soggy crepes!

Set aside to cool.

To put together

Lay all the crepes out on a work surface. You might not need all of them, but it's easier to be prepared.

Lightly grease a large baking dish that will fit the rolled crepes.

Place a couple of spoonfuls of the mushroom mixture along the centre of each crepe, using up all the mixture. You want to be reasonably generous with the filling, but not so much that you can't roll them up.

Break the goat's cheese up into small pieces and scatter over the top of the mushroom mixture. Use as much or little as you like, making sure you keep some aside to put on the top when you bake them.

Roll each of the crepes up with the filling and place them seam side down in the baking dish.

Dot the top with the remaining goat's cheese.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Bake the crepes for 15 to 20 minutes to just heat through and brown the edges of the crepes and the goat's cheese.

Serve with a light salad or vegies.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

Slow cooked mushrooms match perfectly with a lovely Pinot Noir. All that beautiful funky flavour in the mushrooms complements the funky, but fruity, characters in the wine.

I must admit that I haven't really had many New Zealand Pinot Noir's and this one had been sitting in our cellar for a while. About time we opened it, I think!

A 2007 Ra Nui Pinot Noir from Marlborough on the South Island, this wine had a beautiful roundness and complexity to it. It was still beautiful and fruity with lots of cherry and black plum flavours, with a touch of spice. Being aged, it had lovely soft tannins and was nice and smooth. The fruit paired nicely with the mushrooms and the acidity in the goat's cheese. It really was a fantastic match.

Ra Nui make their wines organically and one of their vineyards has even been certified biodynamic. They use minimal intervention wine making, hand picking the grapes and whole bunch pressing.

In the more premium Estate grown Ra Nui range, they make a Pinot Noir, Gwurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  They also make a very unique sounding Rosè, called Sexy Rexy, which is made from Syrah and Pinot Gris. In exceptional vintages Ra Nui also produce a limited edition single vineyard range. Currently a 2009 Syrah is available.

Now that I've tried their wines, I'll certainly be looking  out for them. The Rosè particularly sounds interesting. 

New Zealand really makes some wonderful wines and they certainly go far beyond the usual Sauvignon Blanc. It's time to explore more of the wines across the Tasman!