This Galette Bretonne is a beautifully thin, crispy buckwheat pancake filled with gooey Gruyère, delicious roasted tomatoes and a sunny side up egg.
A Galette Bretonne is a savory buckwheat pancake that hails from the Bretagne region in France. Traditionally, a Galette Complète (a galette with the works!) is made with an egg, cheese and ham, but I’ve opted for a vegetarian version here. I love the nutty flavour of buckwheat and when you factor in delicious Gruyère and my perennial favorite, our famous Confit Tomatoes, you have one very delicious light lunch or dinner.
There are sayings in several languages about the first pancake being for the bin and this batter was no exception! I am not afraid to admit that it took me a few tries to get the swirl right. But then again, I keep denying myself the expensive crêpe pan I’ve been eying for so long, but now I feel like it is TIME. With lockdown No. 8582342 looming on the horizon, don’t you think I should treat myself??
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!
xoxo Donata
Ingredients
Makes about 10 pancakes
Pancakes
300 g buckwheat flour
2 1/2 cups water (600 ml) water plus more as needed
1 1/2 tsp (9 g) salt
2 eggs
Vegetable oil
Filling per pancake
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese
1/4 cup confit tomatoes (recipe here)
Garnish:
freshly ground black pepper
thinly sliced scallions
Preparation
In a bowl, mix together the buckwheat flour, water, eggs and salt. Whisk vigorously until completely smooth.
Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least four hours or, even better, overnight.
When ready to make, warm the confit tomatoes up in a small saucepan.
Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Make sure the bottom of the pan is coated over all over.
Pour a ladle full of batter into the hot pan and immediately swirl the batter all around the pan up to the edges to spread it out thinly. If you find that the batter is not spreading well, add a tablespoon of water to the batter, whisk it thoroughly and try again.
When you see the edges of the pancake getting crispy, flip it over with a spatula.
Crack an egg onto the pancake. Spread the white of the egg out a bit with the back of a small spoon to help it cook faster.
Sprinkle grated Gruyère around the egg yolk.
Cover the pan with a lid.
When the egg is done, spoon some confit tomatoes on the egg. Use a spatula to fold the sides of the pancake towards the middle, leaving an open square in the middle.
Garnish with some freshly ground pepper and some scallions.
Repeat with the remaining batter. Coat the pan with a teaspoon of oil before starting each fresh pancake.
