Semolina Yeast Herb Pancakes With Eggplant And Garbanzo Stew
pancakes
A little different spin on the yeast and herb challenge for Fiesta Friday’s Challenge #1. These pancakes are Moroccan in origin, are so simple to make and really delicious. They are the perfect vehicle for whatever you would like to dip or scoop. I chose a roasted tomato,garbanzo and eggplant stew served with a cold yogurt, cucumber and mint salad. The pancakes only need one rise for an hour, the texture is different from your standard pancake because they are made predominantly with semolina. The basic recipe does not contain herbs but for this challenge I gathered some fresh herbs from the garden and added a little dried marjoram.
This very special edition of Fiesta Friday’s is hosted by the always wonderful Angie from The Novice Gardener and co- host Catherine@Catherine Cuisine, Angie and Catherine will not only host, they will also judge, yes, there will be a winner and a gift. So exciting.
Pancakes:
Serves 4-6depending on serving size
3 cups warm whey or water
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp instant yeast
1 3/4 cup semolina
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 cup fresh herbs chopped (I used parsley, mint and chives) I used more parsley and chives than mint.
1 tsp dried marjoram
In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the warm whey or water with the baking powder. In a food processor, combine the semolina with the flour, yeast, honey and the remaining 2 3/4 cups of warm water; process for 30 seconds, until smooth. Add the salt and baking powder mixture and process for 30 seconds longer. Pour the batter into a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. I made this in the morning and let it rise for an hour then refrigerated until ready to make. Be sure to let it come to room temperature before making the pancakes.
Heat a crepe pan or skillet coated with olive oil until its hot, a drop of water should dance on the surface. Add the chopped herbs and marjoram and stir to combine. Ladle some of the batter, it’s fairly thin,into the pan and quickly spread so it makes a thin layer. Let it cook until bubbles appear then flip and brown on the other side. Keep in the oven on warm until ready to serve.
Stew
Eggplant and garbanzo stew
1 large eggplant skin removed and cut into approximately 1 inch cubes
1 small onion or 2 shallot minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (I used canned)
2 cups tomato sauce ( I made my own from roasted cherry tomatoes pureed in the blender)
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch saffron
juice of half a lemon or a dried lime (if using dried lime make sure to use a knife and make slits)
1 tsp harissa or add to taste and heat tolerance.
Salt and pepper to taste
A generous handful of parsley and a few mint leaves chopped
Toss the eggplant in olive oil and bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until browned. In saucepan sweat the onion and garlic in some olive oil, add the garbanzo’s and saute briefly just to warm and coat with the oil, now add the tomato sauce, turmeric, saffron,harissa and lemon and let simmer for 30 minutes, watch carefully and add liquid if necessary, you don’t want it too dry.
Add the eggplant and simmer for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and mint right before serving.
Yogurt,cucumber mint salad
2 cups plain greek yogurt ( I like full or reduced fat not non fat)
1 cucumber peeled and cut into small pieces
1- 1 1/2 tsp dried mint
salt and pepper to taste
Delicious meal
Fiesta Friday Challenge
apuginthekitchen 
Oh my gosh…this is so perfect for the challenge.. talk about thinking out of the box!! I love this Suzanne.. it looks so delicious. I just bought an eggplant for something completely different, but now you have me thinking that I should be making this instead! ❤
Thank you so much Prudy, it is really delicious. That eggplant stew is very tasty and scooped up with a warm pancake it’s really a tasty meal.
Suzanne this looks delicious and healthy, I don’t eat a lot of eggplant but I’m about to change my mind 🙂
Daniella, I just checked my spam and all of your comments were in there. I so apologize for not replying, Thanks so much and I hope wordpress has addressed the problem you are having.
This looks wonderful, Suzanne!! I would love to try this – and I’ve got some semolina flour on hand and herbs in the garden too. Perfect timing! Good luck in the contest!!!!
Thanks Susan, I have to say I love this whole combination. I made tomato sauce by roasting heirloom cherry tomatoes and pureeing, it was just perfect with the eggplant and chick pea’s. A little spicy and no meat!!
Oh that looks yum! It must have been a great meal! The pancake looks so fluffy
Thanks so much, it’s a really different pancake than you would imagine. I am a semolina fan, and it gives them a rustic quality.
Really interesting recipe and a really good choice for the challenge! I must say that it looks really delicious too!
Suzanne, this is totally my kind of meal. I absolutely love the idea of savory, herbed pancakes, but I especially love that eggplant stew! My husband loves eggplant, and while he doesn’t care for chickpeas, I bet he would love them in this. I’m adding this to my list of dinners…totally mouthwatering.
And its Vegan!! Omitting the yogurt of course. Thanks Brandi, yes the chick pea’s are delicious in this and I bet the hubby just may eat them. Thanks so much.
Mmmmmm…..what a perfect accompaniment to your delicious looking stew. Pancakes are so versatile…thanks for reminding me that they are NOT just for breakfast!
It’s sort of like a combination of pancake and flat bread. It is really nice with the stew Thanks so much Serena!
Wow Suzanne! It all looks so fabulous! I love the look of those semolina-herb pancakes, but what really caught my eye, and tummy!, is that gorgeous stew! LOVE it!
Thanks so much Lidia, that stew was terrific, so tasty and no meat!!!
The pancakes look absolutely delicious Suzanne! Chickpeas and eggplant with spices and tomatoes! Oh my! The yoghurt touch is my favourite part! Good luck with the contest!
Everything combined was great, thanks very much Viviana. I love that yogurt dish, always make it when I have Middle Eastern or Persian food.
A nice twist to the regular pancake, and awesome side dishes to go with it! The bowl of stew looks delicious and the salad is just the way I make it in my house too, very typically Indian. 🙂
I think the stew would be great with Indian spicing, and I also really love the yogurt dish with the stew. Thank you so much!
Suzanne, this looks amazing! Ethnic, but also totally do-able in an average kitchen. Have been draining the whey from yogurt, so am glad to have another use for it. It all looks so tasty. And healthy 😀
I also save the whey when I make ricotta, its great for polenta or these pancakes. Thank you, its so true this recipe can be made easily with simple ingredients and it is healthful.
Suzanne! This looks absolutely delicious! I love pancakes, whether they be savoury or sweet, thick or thin, doused in maple syrup and butter or a big hit of hearty stew! Speaking of stews, this one looks so nourishing, beautiful and wholesome. I’ve recently been obsessed with harissa so the idea of eating a beautiful pot of harissa-spiced chickpeas and eggplant sounds divine. The yoghurty mint and cucumber accompaniment sounds perfect. Oh, can I come over your house right now??? All I have in front of me is peanut butter toast (nothing to complain about I guess… but pretty paltry in contrast to this glorious meal!) xx
I wish you weren’t on the other side of the world I would bring you some. Thank you so much Laura.
Oh my… what a hard act to follow! This looks amazing Suzanne – what a beautiful, full-flavoured meal! I’d better get to work on my yeasty/herby something or other that my brain has been mulling over for the past couple of weeks… Eeek!
I can’t wait to see what you do, it’s always amazing. Thank you so much.
Goodness, Suzanne. I love every little bit of this post. So many of my favorite flavors, plus a great introduction to a new type of pancake!
Thank you so much Patty, it’s very different from the traditional pancake and a very nice change,
Yum, yum, yum!! This looks delicious! So many delicious, hearty flavours! This dish is totally soul food!!
Thank you so much, it really is soul food, never thought of it like that but you are right.
Ethnic food rocks my socks, these savoury pancakes look incredible 😀
My favourite however is the combo of garbanzo stew with eggplant n the pancakes! Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
it rocks my socks too!, thanks so much Uru!
I am so making this Suzanne! I hate to admit it but I have never in my life baked (or cooked) with active yeast. But I finally bought some the last time I was at the market. This looks like a good place to start. Especially because I love your stew. Love this post…
(I just had to go through and edit my own comment because every sentence had an exclamation mark, that’s how excited I was!!) 🙂
Oh wow, thank you so much. I do hope you like it. The stew is amazing with the pancakes. This is a good way to ease yourself into using yeast. Best of luck, Now normally when I bake bread if I am using my instant I cut the amount in half when the recipe calls for active dry yeast I use half the amount of instant. I don’t know if that would be the case in this recipe. I would add 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast if thats what you have. Let me know what you think. Thank you!
I love the last image showing all the elements of the meal, it looks so yummy and it’s healthy too. Have a good weekend.
Thank you, it was a lovely meal, so tasty!
My dad is a huge eggplant fan and is growing his own this year. I’m going to send him this eggplant stew as i think he would love it! Have a great weekend!
It seems the gardening gene runs in your family, so cool your Dad is growing eggplant. Thanks so much and hope he enjoy!
Pancakes look fab, fluffy and tasty! I’d love to try it! I love both stew and pancakes, but have never eaten them together 🙂
These are like a cross between flat bread and pancakes, the semolina gives them a different texture. They are delicious with the stew. Thanks so much.
I need to try this recipe, I don’t eat a lot of eggplants, but I am trying to eat healthy, this is perfect!! this definitely is your talent 🙂
hello
Suzanne, I just love this recipe!! I think it is so versatile! I love what you have combined it with, but I think that the possibilities are endless! I’m thinking to serve these with soups, chile, casserole etc! Great recipe and post!
Thank you so much, yes it is versatile, I love it slathered in butter with maple syrup or with fresh fruit or even powdered sugar. I think it would be great with chili.
What a great, creative idea for the challenge and they look delicious! I think I’d love to eat these with a nice pot of chilli!
Yes, definitely chili, the semolina has a similar texture to cornmeal and I love cornbread with chili too. Thank you so much.
It’s early in the morning but the images of your pancakes and stew are so inviting that I would go for them right now! 🙂 Great, great meal Suzanne! I wouldn’t like to be in the other contestants’ shoes. It’s going to be so hard to come up with an idea that can beat your fabulous dish. Good luck!
You are too kind thank you so much.
Hi Suzanne, all these recipes look delicious! I am intrigued by the semolina pancake. What a fantastic use of herbs and yeast for the challenge. They look super fluffy too.
I love the semolina pancakes. They are a totally different texture from your regular pancake, have a nice rustic quality. Thanks so much.
These look absolutely fabulous. And so novel. What a great way to meet the Fiesta Friday challenge.
Thank you so much. I have made these many times but never with herbs, it really is delicious and so nice with the stew.
Wow, Suzanne, you really put on your creative cap for this. Those pancakes look so unique as well as tempting. I want to touch them, and tear into them, and dipping them into the stew. For some reason they remind me of injera bread, the texture. Pretty sure they don’t taste the same. I’m guessing I will need to make them myself for a taste since you can’t get them anywhere else. So many serious contenders already! How in the world will Catherine and I be able to select winners? 🙂
Thanks so much Angie, the pancakes are such a great vehicle to scoop up that stew, It’s really delicious. I know every entry I see is amazing. You and Catherine really have your work cut out.
This looks fabulous! Real Mediterranean feel.
Thanks so much Cindy, that was my inspiration.
Those pancakes do look great. And I wouldn’t really have thought of eating those with savoury. I guess the pancakes I’m used to are more sweet than savoury. I think you might have kicked this F&F Challenge up a notch or two! Come to think of it, I’m supposed to be doing something for it. Haven’t even thought about it. Oops!
Can’t wait to see what you do Johnny. Thank you so much. Because of the yeast and semolina they are perfect for a savory dish.
Your pancakes look awesome Suzanne 🙂 Usually I eat those little pancakes with honey and melted butter but I like your new version!
Yes I love them with butter and honey, it’s delicious and the way I usually eat them also (or maple syrup) decided to try something different, It is really good. Thanks so much!
What a fabulous feast, I love it all!!!!
Thanks so much Elaine!
A really delicious feast you’ve prepared here, with the yeasted pancakes, the stew (I loooove eggplant and chickpeas together; need to try this!) and the yogurt cucumber dish. All sound and look delicious!!!
Thank you, it’s really good, I love the combination of eggplant and chickpeas too!
What a fabulous entry!! Genius 🙂 Looks and sounds delicious too!!
Thank you so much. It was one of my favorite meals in a while.
OMG, these looks absolutely gorgeous. I wasn’t here for a while. Your new wallpaper is definitely cute ! You don’t appear in my reader WordPress anymore. I don’t know why, it’s stupid and boring !
I have been having the same problem with wordpress, several blogs that I follow don’t appear in the reader and I have no idea of their posts. Hello!!! how are you and the baby??? I had not heard from you in a while and would still love a guest post on crepes, could you!! I have not seen a post from you either, maybe you don’t appear in my reader anymore. I find that if I unfollow then follow again it sometimes works and posts appar in the reader.
Yeah in fact, life is quite stunning with 2 baby boys. I’ll try to unsubscribe and subscribe again. It’s boring because I want to continue to blog and follow bloggers I love through this easy way… I tought you didn’t blog anymore. Let’s do the crêpe stuff again ! I’ll work on it.
I did email you a few months ago maybe you didn’t get the email. Will try again. Please yes absolutely lets do the crepe post!! Thank you.