Imagine the perfect date night with your significant other. You light the candles, put the tablecloth on, perhaps some nice music to enhance the ambience? Of course we need to cook something French, right? Why not make those exquisite French high protein galettes then!
This is the kind of food I was hoping for when I went on my French trip a while ago. Unfortunately, turns out vegetarian food is scarce and often badly cooked. As if the lack of meat was a good excuse to forget old good salt and pepper. Either way, after the disappointment of a completely tasteless galette with ratatouille I decided to give myself the experience of proper delicious French galettes… with a twist of course 🙂 Because who likes to follow the rules and do things the traditional way when you can make things so much more fun (and delicious)!
High protein hollandaise sauce
The non-traditional part of this meal is a hollandaise sauce. Instead of a block of butter and heart attack we opt for cottage cheese to make it way more nutritious whilst not compromising on flavour. It still has the very rich taste we are after. Traditional hollandaise sauce has about half a gram of protein per 100ml. This version offers you about 10g for the same amount.
So, if you follow the ratios accordingly to the recipe you will end up with about 40g of protein per portion (assuming you go for 3 pancakes each and use all the sauce). Who would think that a delicious date recipe could taste so good and hit all your macros? You are welcome!
Buckwheat galettes- traditionally gluten free
Another good news, this is an originally gluten-free recipe. Galettes are famous French pancakes made from buckwheat flour. I love its flavour; It’s nutty, deep and feels so much more interesting than plain wheat flour. It can be a little hard to come by and it costs a little extra but I promise, you will not regret buying it!
You can find it in Holland & Barrett, well stocked supermarkets or simply add one to your amazon cart.
Oat milk in itself is gluten free but it might be contaminated if there are wheat goods used in the same factory. Check the packaging for full clarity on this.
Dijon may or may not be gluten free, refer to the back of the jar to see for sure.
Add This site may contain product affiliate links. It won’t cost you extra but I might be paid commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.
Prep in advance
Now, let’s be honest about something. As long as this recipe is amazing, it still requires a fair amount of faff- definitely it’s not something you want to cook on a busy midweek night. There are however ways to make these French galettes a little bit more user-friendly by breaking it into sections and prepping few parts ahead of time. So when it comes to your date, you can do last few bits and then set it in the oven and relax.
Hollandaise sauce- make up to 3 days ahead and store in the fridge.
Galette batter- it needs resting between 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. Store in the fridge.
You can make galettes ahead of time too- simply fry them, then roll them lightly and store in an air tight container. Preferably don’t make them more than one day ahead. Bear in mind they will lose a little bit of crispiness in the fridge. Freshly made galettes will always be superior after all.
Green beans- are completely optional. They will taste better if you cook them fresh but storing them overnight will not ruin the dish so don’t let it discourage you if you are low on time and can’t handle cooking them whilst making the rest of the recipe work.
Practical note
99% of my cooking is very easy going and relaxed, nearly rustic. This recipe is the exception. It does require more utensil than I usually use to make a 3 course meal and it can be a bit messy so:
- gather all the utensils ready before you start cooking
- make some space on the counter- double check that you have enough working space and nothing gets in the way
- if you have dishwasher, ideally make sure you have enough space to load it as soon as you finish using any utensils, plates, bowls. It will keep it less stressful.
And enjoy! With good organisation, this recipe is not too difficult or demanding and I promise you will love the flavour. Give it a go and let me know how you liked it.
1And if you need a quick recipe, this banana bread with a twist might be an easy win once you have the oven going anyway.
Galettes with eggs and cottage cheese hollandaise sauce
Equipment
- 1 baking tray
- 1 baking parchment
- 1 glass bowl fitting over a pot or bamboo basket and a little ramekin
- 1 frying pan
- 1 bowl
- 1 whisk
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
Galettes- batter
- 100 g buckwheat flour
- 250 ml oat milk or any other milk
- 1 egg
- a pinch of salt
- frying oil
Galettes- filling and garnish
- 6 eggs
- spring onion
- 150 g green beans optional
Cottage cheese hollandaise sauce
- 160 g cottage cheese
- 1 tbsp oat milk if needed
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
Galettes- part 1
- Add flour and salt into a bowl. Crack and egg in and whisk until roughly combined. Start adding milk bit by bit and keep whisking. This is the best way to get rid of lumps effectively. Set on the side for about 30 minutes.
Hollandaise sauce
- Blend cottage cheese with a splash of milk until smooth. Add lemon juice and 2 egg yolks, pour into a ramekin and put it into bamboo steaming basket. Pour a hot water into a pan and set basket on top of it. Cook for about 15 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Add garlic, dijon mustard, salt and pepper and put on the side for when you are ready to serve your galettes.
Galettes- part 2
- Cook green beans in hot water for about 2-3 minutes and drain, leave on the side.
- Heat oil in the pan and pour just enough batter to cover the bottom. The first one usually doesn't work out so don't worry if that happens to you, just scrape it off and put it in the bin. Put more oil in fry another pancake, it should be way easier now. Fry for about a minute or two until you see the edges lifting. If you use oat milk the batter will stick to the pan a little bit more and you might need to lift the edges using a spatula. Flip to the other side and cook for another minute. Continue with the rest of the batter making sure to add more oil to the pan after frying each pancake. Half way through frying the pancakes it might be a good time to heat up the oven if you are organised enough to keep few things going on simultaneously. If not, don't worry, focus on pancakes first and move on to the next step later.You should end up having about 6-7 pancakes.
- Heat oven to 180℃. Put a baking parchment on baking tray and place 3 pancakes on top. Crack an egg and fold edges to stop it from leaking. If you have another tray do the same thing with remaining 3 pancakes. Put in the oven and bake for about 7-8 minutes until the whites are set. Egg yolk will look uncooked at first glance but this is the look we're going after anyway- it will be more cooked underneath.
- Carefully move the pancake from a baking tray to a plate, sprinkle with spring onions, top with cooked green beans and when ready- pour some hollandaise sauce on top. Enjoy your feast!
