Buckwheat pancakes with sardine fillets, savoury tomato sauce, and tapenade

Galettes de sarrasin, thin buckwheat pancakes are served in French creperie restaurants. They are savoury crepes usually filled with sausages or fried egg. You can make your own crepes if you have a crepe pan or a special crêpière, griddle pancake pan. My daughter- in- law is a specialist for this. But I opted the easy way and bought ready-made crepes from our supermarket in Nice.

The following recipe combines the buckwheat pancakes with tapenade, black olive purée, sardine fillets, and savoury tomato sauce. If you cannot buy ready-made buckwheat pancakes or tapenade, there are several recipes on the Internet. Tinned sardines can be used as a substitute for fresh sardine fillets.

2 servings

4 galettes de sarrasin, thin buckwheat pancakes
8 fresh sardine fillets
A small pot of tapenade noir, black olive purée

For the savoury tomato sauce:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried Provençal herbs
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
200 ml tomato sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200° C.

In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and herbs for a few minutes. Add the vinegar, tomato sauce, and black pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer.

Clean the sardine fillets with kitchen paper. Place in an ovenproof oiled dish and roast for 10 minutes.

Spread some tapenade on the quarter of each pancake. Top with the tomato sauce and 2 sardine fillets. Fold the pancakes into quarters to make little triangular cones. Serve with some green salad for a carefree lunch or a light dinner.