Tomato Crêpes

I often let myself work/read/write until I am rabid for food, and I mean rabid like an animal. And do you know what happens then? I make for the kitchen, fling the fridge door open, get the cheese, get the Marmite and the bread stick from the pantry, switch the George on (that's the name of my toaster) and make myself a cheese and Marmite mini-toastie. I lived on these while I was finishing my PhD and I continue to fall back on them every single time I cannot wait any longer than four minutes flat for food to reach my watering jaws. But the thing is... this happens more often than I care to admit and I really ought to get myself organised, so that I am actually preparing food half an hour before the critical moment hits.

Tonight I did no better, except I convinced myself that I could whip out a crêpe, which I had never tried before, in as few minutes as it takes for the cheese and Marmite toastie to start wafting through the house with its mix of buttery, savoury sourness. And do you know something? I made it. You can make crêpes as quickly as you can make a toastie. This is a no-weight-lots-of-gain recipe that I made up while in search of a double-quick time fix.



You'll need this:

two tablespoons of tinned chopped tomatoes
three eggs
one heaped tablespoon of plain flour
a pinch of salt
a splash of olive oil for the frying pan
a table spoon of grated Parmesan

Makes four small crêpes (I am thinking... 20 cm diameter or so)

Heat the oil in your frying pan on medium, then wipe the pan with some paper towels, so that it is all nice and greasy but not overly so.

Crack your eggs in a jug and add the pinch of salt, the two tablespoons of tomatoes, the plain flour, the Parmesan and, if you have it, a fistful of your favourite herb (I added chives, by all means not compulsory). Now pour a little bit of the mixture in your pan, swirl it around and watch the sides of your crêpe as they quickly come away from the pan itself. Turn with a spatula as the bottom comes away too.

Cook on the other side for another scant minute and continue like so until you have exhausted all of your batter. If you can make pancakes, you can make these, except they are far quicker and less calorific. But, hey, you can always fix this one with a vatful of cheese to melt under the grill.