Crespolini

(Italian Spinach and Ricotta stuffed, vegetarian pancakes)

Make up a batch of pancakes, either plain or Buckwheat, using the pancake batter recipe

For the filling:

• 500g/1lb ( raw weight) of spinach leaves
• 500g/ 1lb Ricotta cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the spinach until tender (microwaving in a cling filmed container works very well for spinach, don’t add water)

Drain any excess liquid from the spinach and add the Ricotta cheese, salt and pepper to taste, mix well.

Divide the mixture between the cooked pancakes and roll up. Place the pancakes in a single layer in an ovenproof dish.

For the Béchamel sauce

• 600ml/1.5 pints milk
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 50g/2oz butter
• 50g/2oz plain flour
• Pinch grated nutmeg (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 100g/4oz Parmesan Cheese

(for those of you in a real hurry, forget the onion, cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns and just go ahead making the sauce with the butter, flour and milk)

Impale the onion with the cloves and place in a saucepan with the bay leaves, peppercorns and milk.

Bring to a simmer and then leave to stand

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour, cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes

Strain the milk into the flour and butter and stir well (a whisk is best to avoid lumps)

Cook for a few minutes and add the grated nutmeg if using.

Pour the sauce over the pancakes and sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven 190C/380C Gas 4 for 30 – 40 minutes, or microwave, and grill the top.

Flippin' good pancakes for breakfast this morning. We ate them simply with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinling of suger. Pancake batter recipe here.

We have made every kind of pancake there is - banana fritters for breakfast, buckwheat with smoked salmon and creme fraiche for lunch and lemon and sugar for tea. Each more delicious than the last, and easy with it.

I hardly dare write the words because I know I am going to be inundated with spam - but as I was one of those children that liked spam fritters at school it'll probably be ok. 

The Papers are getting fed up. Enough about Food they say. And of course at suffolkfoodie we agree - let's move on from the 'kitchen as lab' trend and just make sure your children are able make a half-decent sandwich.

Yes, so am I. Tell us where yours is and we'll tell everyone else to come to it.

More of a focus on health and safety, we did vegetarian and made baked 'falafel' (no oil, no salt) with cous cous, orange, kidney bean and sweetcorn salad. Made me want to go for a Macdonalds. What happened to school kitchens - and chocolate crunch with pink sauce? We weren't obese in those days...

...made by some young suffolkfoodies - thanks for the picture Arianne and Dominique - I'm coming to your house for tea!

This is a pretty village right in the middle of USA - land Mildenhall and Lakenheath, with a Native American buried in the churchyard and a pub that sells chili!

For the rhubarb compote - see above

For the creamed rice

300ml/10floz milk (full fat is best)

300ml/10floz double cream

1 vanilla pod

150g/6oz short grain pudding rice

150g/6oz caster sugar

Place the milk and cream in a saucepan or better still, a double boiler.

Split the vanilla pod length ways and scrape out the seeds and add the whole lot to the cream and milk.

Bring the milk mixture to a gentle simmer and add the rice and sugar.

Simmer gently, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes until the rice is soft and the liquid absorbed.

(Watch carefully to ensure that the rice and milk do not burn on the bottom of the pan.  If you do not have a decent heavy based saucepan, it is suggested that you bake the rice pudding in the oven, although it will then have a darker colour and a skin on top, but still delicious!)

Remove the vanilla pod before serving the creamed rice with the rhubarb. Delicious hot or cold!

Eggs poached in cling film, food all over the floor, a manic sound track, lots of crying and mackerel with rhubarb on Masterchef. But all is calm at suffolkfoodie, with Inspector x's delicious rice pudding with rhubarb on our recipe pages. Yorkshire's forced rhubarb grows in candlelight and now has Protected Designation of Origin status from the European Commission.