Pancake day just so happens to fall at the same time that blood oranges are in season so I couldn’t resist combining the two. Here I mixed up a batch of my simple flat pancake batter (recipe below) with the zest of a couple of blood oranges, then served them with a dollop of yogurt and a squeeze of blood orange. Folded it up and sprinkled with our organic whole cane sugar and toasted, flaked almonds. Utter heaven!
Blood oranges are a beautiful member of the citrus family, they are usually sweeter than regular oranges and the organic ones we source are pretty special. Early on in the season they just have an ombre blush of raspberry flavoured red like these, then as as the season goes on they get to a deeper, almost purple colour. Spectacular to slice open and such a special, seasonal treat. One blood orange contains 75% of your recommended daily vitamin C dose. Add them to your order here today, they won’t be in season for long.
Ingredients (makes 8 crepes)
- 1 mug of plain flour or spelt flour (around 200g)
- 1 & 1/2 mugs of oat milk (or any milk you like – around 500g)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- the zest of two blood oranges
- butter or sunflower oil for frying
- yoghurt, toasted flaked almonds, sugar and slices of the two zested blood oranges to serve
Method
Measure the flour, milk, salt, baking powder, olive oil and sugar into a bowl and whisk into a smooth batter. I don’t bother getting out the scales as this recipe is very forgiving, just use a mug to measure out the flour and milk.
Zest the two blood oranges into the batter and stir to combine. Allow the batter to rest for at least 20 minutes. You can even make the batter the night before and keep it covered in the fridge.
Heat up a non-stick frying pan or better yet, a pancake pan, to a medium-high heat.
Toast a handful or two of flaked almonds in the dry pan and then put them aside into a small bowl.
Melt a tbsp of butter or vegetable oil in the pan and swirl to coat the base of the pan.
Add a ladle of pancake batter and swirl to create a thin, flat pancake. Let it cook for a minute or so on the first side before carefully flipping and cooking the other side for a further minute. You know it’s ready to flip when it is golden brown underneath and comes away from the pan easily.
Serve warm with a dollop of yogurt and a squeeze of blood orange in the middle of the pancake. Fold it up into quarters, sprinkle over some sugar and flaked almonds and serve with a wedge or two of blood orange.
Repeat with all of the batter and enjoy!
Blood oranges aren’t just delicious in sweet dishes! They are sometimes eaten as a starter in Sicily – just some spring onions, good quality olive oil, pepper salt. Don’t knock it until you tried it 🙂
A lovely vegan pasta dish is a variant of “aglio, olio e peperoncino” (garlic, olive oil and chili). For two people, you’ll need about two blood oranges, a good splash of olive oil, however much garlic you like, a handful of chopped walnuts and fresh chili/chili flakes. Prepare pasta as you would. Use a good amount of salt in your water – the water will be used to season the sauce.
For the sauce: Heat the high quality olive oil over medium heat, then added chopped walnuts for a few minutes. Add garlic, fresh chili (or leave the chili out, that’s fine as well – I prefer it without chili) and the zest of the blood oranges and cook for a minute (don’t let the garlic brown). Add blood orange juice, and a cup of the pasta water (has some starches, so makes the sauce smoother). Let it thicken (add a knob of vegan butter if you want it very velvety and indulgent). When the pasta is ready, simply tip it in your sauce pan and coat the pasta with the sauce. Garnish with spring onion. Delicious and easy sweet/sour/savoury pasta dish. For a pescetarian version, replace the walnuts with tinned tuna (use tuna in olive oil, and use the oil from the tin instead of olive oil).
Oh yes I love blood oranges in savoury dishes! Definitely going to try that pasta recipe, thanks! I’m just working on a salad and upside down blood orange recipe too so look out for those coming soon 🙂