Cottage cheese and chive pancakes with hot-smoked trout

Method

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.