Cottage cheese and chive pancakes with hot-smoked trout

Portion size: Serves 4
Prep time 20 min, plus resting. Cook time 15 min
Difficulty: easy

Freezable

Emily Gussin

Food producer and sustainability lead, delicious.

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Fluffy and light, these cottage cheese pancakes are packed with protein. Pile them high and top with crème fraîche and smoked trout for a crowdpleasing pancake stack.

Browse more high-protein recipes.

Before you start

Be a better cook Separating the eggs without whisking the egg whites will actually give you the lightest and fluffiest pancakes. Whisking the egg whites before folding them in will give the pancakes lift in the pan, but by the time you’ve cooked them all they will have deflated. Adding the whites unwhisked, however, means the bubbles created by the bicarb/ baking powder is contained in a thicker liquid which can expand more when heated and hold its shape better for longer.

Know-how Any leftover pancakes can be frozen in a bag or container, then reheated from frozen in a toaster, air fryer or dry frying pan.

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Ingredients

Vegetable oil for frying
100g cottage cheese or crème fraîche
200g hot-smoked trout, flaked (we like ChalkStream)
Chives, chopped, to serve

For the chive oil

10g chives, chopped
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the batter

60g plain flour
60g plain wholemeal flour (or another 60g plain flour)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp fine sea salt
4 medium eggs, separated
300g cottage cheese
75ml whole milk
10g chives, finely chopped

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Method

Start by making the chive oil. Put the chopped chives in a mini blender with the oil and whizz until smooth and bright green. Season with a little salt and set aside.
Next make the pancake batter. Stir together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. In a jug or small bowl, mix the egg yolks, 300g cottage cheese, the milk and chives. Use a silicone spatula to mix the egg and cheese mixture into the flours until combined, then stir in the unbeaten egg whites and leave the mixture to rest for 5 minutes at room temperature before cooking.
Heat a large frying pan or flat griddle pan over a low-medium heat and brush with a little oil. Working in batches, scoop about 2 tbsp of batter into the pan for each pancake (an ice cream scoop or small ladle works well). Cook for about 3 minutes or until the base is golden and bubbles are rising to the surface on top. Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute or two until golden on the second side and cooked through. Keep warm on a plate covered with a tea towel while you make the rest.
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Pile the cooked pancakes onto plates and top with a dollop of cottage cheese or crème fraîche, a drizzle of chive oil and the flaked trout. Season with sea salt flakes and plenty of black pepper, then sprinkle with some chopped chives to serve.