For many people, lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been marked by one thing: sourdough.
The alert level 4 period in 2020 saw clever Kiwi home cooks around the country trying their hand at going back to basics and making their own sourdough loaves.
But if you can't face baking bread again, we've got a much quicker and easier sourdough recipe to use up that starter with.
Enter the sourdough pancake - the perfect rainy day breakfast or brunch for those currently locked down in COVID-19 alert level 3 Auckland. And in a case of excellent timing, February 16 marks Shrove Tuesday in the UK: the day before Lent which sees children typically eating stacks of pancakes for breakfast.
This simple recipe was shared with Metro by Masterchef winner Oli Martin, who advises giving your starter "a good feeding" the day before making the pancakes so it's nicely active and bubbling away.
Martin's recipe to make the thick, American-style pancakes is below:
Ingredients
- 45g melted butter
- 150g plain flour
- 150g sourdough starter
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1.5 tbsp tbsp sugar
- 6 whole eggs
- Pinch of salt
- Milk to bind
Method
- Mix all the dry ingredients, add your butter and then the eggs then add milk until you've got the right consistency, it should be a thick, silky smooth batter.
- Lightly grease your pan and warm over a medium heat.
- Add a dollop of the mixture (these are American style, so a bit thicker), cook on one side then flip after a minute or so to finish.
- Serve with whatever you've got in the fridge from your pre-lockdown stockpile: yogurt, berries, cream, chocolate sauce, banana, or even just lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar.
