Earlier today – day 5 of Passover – I was looking through my bag of tricks for something new, something different … something for a truly satisfying dinner that does not involve matzah in any way, shape or form. (Ok, so the placemat still screams Pesach.)
If any of the above strikes a chord, this recipe is for you – particularly for the non-kitniyot consumers out there. It is adapted from a non-Passover recipe that I found in my cookbook library in a volume entitled: Jewish Cooking from Around the World (1986), by Josephine Levy Bacon. My version is a bit different – less potato, more mushroom. The following recipe serves 2 adults with leftovers for a second meal. Because I am not cooking for a crowd this year, I cut the original recipe in half; if you have more people it is easy to scale up.
Ingredients
Pancakes:
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon Water and 1/2 cup additional water
1/4 tsp salt
Sunflower Oil or Oil of your choice for making pancakes
Potato/Mushroom Filling
3 medium potatoes – boiled, peeled and mashed*
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 large portobello mushrooms, diced, or other 6-8 ounces of other mushrooms as available.
2 Tbs parsley, chopped
1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil / Sunflower Oil
Salt, Pepper to taste
Topping
**3 ounces Cheddar Cheese, grated
––
*The easiest way to boil potatoes quickly is to slice them into 1 – 2 inch sections first, and the easiest way to peel potatoes is to boil them first.
** This recipe can be made dairy free with omission of the grated cheese.
Instructions
- For the pancake batter, mix all of the ingredients until the mixture is smooth, adding the 1/2 cup of water gradually, and then let the mixture rest for 30 minutes covered. The 30 minute wait is Josephine Levy Bacon’s advice in her original recipe. The pancakes come out really well this way – who am I to argue with success?
- While the pancake batter is resting, you can boil the potatoes for the Potato-Mushroom Filling, if you have not already done that. (Sometimes I do pre-boil potatoes for convenience during the Jewish holidays – they all seem to require potatoes!)
- Sauté the other vegetables in Extra Virgin Olive Oil / Sunflower Oil (I use a mixture) or you preferred oil. I generally start with the onions and garlic, adding the mushrooms and parsley when the onions are translucent. Once the vegetables are cooked, mix in the mashed potatoes and set aside.
- Returning to the pancake batter, I found with the mixture of almond flour and potato starch the batter had settled a bit during the 30 minute rest, and needed a good stir. Apart from that, it makes delightful thin pancakes. To make the pancakes you will need your best smallish non-stick pan – basically the size pan you would use to make an omelet. Heat the oil in the pan over moderate heat and add 3 Tablespoons or so of batter, swirling the pan to distribute the batter. Cook 2-3 minutes or until the pancake is set and moves easily in the pan. Flip and cook another minute on the second side; place the cooked pancake on a paper towel and start the second pancake. The goal here is not to let the pancakes get crisp – they should remain soft and pliable, like a crepe. As a point of reference, I made 8 pancakes with this recipe.
- Once you have made the pancakes, you are ready to fill them, adding approximately 2-3 tablespoons of the cooked vegetables to each pancake before rolling it up and placing it in a shallow casserole dish.
- Top with 3 ounces of grated cheddar cheese and bake at 375 degrees (moderately hot) oven to melt the cheese.
These Mushroom-Potato Pancakes make a delicious change from the usual Passover fare – without any special, exotic ingredients. I hope that you enjoy this as much as we do.
Bon Appétit!
Your Second-Middle Age: 