Pancakes - chestnut, leek, pear & cheddar

Ingredients 1 cup plain flour, 1 tbsp baking  powder, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup chestnut puree, 1/2 cup milk, 1 pear, cheddar, 1 leek, butter

Serves: 4 Preparation: 40 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan, and whilst traditional pancake batter is perfectly lovely - I can't help but love to experiment. Some of my favourites have been rose and pistachio and banana.

1) Whisk the eggs with the milk, chestnut puree and pour over the dry ingredients, whisking until they are combined. Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes and then stir through

2) To make the filling, peel the pear and slice the flesh from the core. Dice it, along with the leek and sautee in a little butter until soft.

3) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a little butter. Pour in one ladle of batter (if you want crepes, quickly turn the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter, then return to the hob) and cook for about one minute, until the base is lightly browned. I like to use a spatula or palette knife to just loosen the edges of the pancake - once the air gets under it you will find it does not stick to the pan but slide about which helps it to flip!

4) Flip over the pancake (if you have a clumsy wrist, slide the pancake onto a plate, then tip the pan over the plate and turn it upside down. No one will ever know!

5) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, stuff with the leek and pears mixture, and crumbled cheddar.