Looking for a stupid simple egg based breakfast or light dinner recipe? This is it! My savory semolina pancake is a variation of a recipe that my dad used to prepare for me and my sisters while we were still kids.

This simple dish takes less than 20 minutes from start to finish and I simply love the taste of it. It’s fluffy, it’s cheesy and the bacon simply makes it perfect. Maybe I’m being nostalgic, but to be fair, my own kids love it too so there must be something to it 🙂

I’ve made two modifications to my dad’s recipe… I’m frying the bacon in advance (he didn’t do that) and I’m also adding some cheese on top and letting it melt. I’d say that these two small changes really take this semolina pancake to a whole new level.

Now let me show you how to prepare it.

Semolina Pancake Ingredients

The ingredients list is as short as it gets 🙂

3 slices of smoked bacon
4 eggs
12 tablespoons of semolina (3 per egg)
250g / 9oz of Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

TIP: I prefer to use semolina for this recipe but you can also use a different type of coarse flour.

How to make a savory semolina pancake.

Watch the video or scroll down for step by step instructions.

You will need just four main ingredients. Eggs, bacon, semolina and some cheese…I’m using mozzarella today, but you can use another type that melts well. Cheddar would be a great choice, for example.

Let’s start with the bacon, we need about 3 large slices and please, use high quality smoked bacon as that’s what really gives this semolina pancake its specific flavor. I like to use a type that’s heavy in meat content. If you don’t want to use smoked produce, Italian pancetta or even ham would be a great substitute.

Next thing we have to do is cut the bacon slices into really small pieces. The fine cut is important so don’t rush it please. Big pieces might break the structure of the pancake.

Heat up a non-stick pan to high heat and start frying the bacon. You don’t even need to add oil, the bacon will release enough fat really soon. But you can definitely drizzle the pan with a touch of oil if needed.

Once the bacon looks like in the picture, take it off the pan. Leave the extra fat in the pan and don’t discard it, it’s full of flavors that we need in the final dish. It will come handy once we actually start to cook our semolina pancake.

And now it’s time to make the semolina dough. We need 4 eggs, simply crack them into a bowl and go on with the seasonings. Just salt and pepper to taste, that’s all we need. Go lightly with the salt as the bacon itself tends to be quite salty.

TIP: I usually don’t do that, but if you have some fresh herbs at hand, you can add them now. Chopped basil, parsley, rosemary or thyme… feel free to use some.

Take a fork now and beat the eggs properly, you could also use a whisk but I prefer using a fork as the thick pancake dough would stick to a whisk.

Once the eggs look good, it’s time to add our fried bacon and about 1 third of the cheese we have prepared. And again, mix everything properly.

Next comes the semolina, we need about 3 tablespoons per egg which comes to a total of 12 tablespoons in this case. I prefer to add the semolina in batches. It’s easier to mix the dough this way and you never know how much you really need to use as the eggs always come in different sizes.

You want to reach a thick but still runny consistency. If you’re not sure what it should look like, please watch the video above, right under the ingredients list. Should yours look too runny, just add some more semolina. And if it’s too thick, just add a splash of water.

Heat the pan up again, this time to medium or medium low temperature. Add a splash of olive oil if needed and pour the dough in. Spread it out with a spatula to make sure we have an even layer.

Cover the pan with a lid immediately and cook until the eggs set just a little bit so it’s easy to flip the semolina pancake. It should take about 3 or 4 minutes, but you can always check the bottom if unsure.

Once flipped, there is one last thing to do. Take the rest of the cheese and put it on top of the pancake. Spread it out a little bit and immediately cover the pan again. Keep on cooking until the cheese melts and we are done.

My dad always used to cut the finished semolina pancake into triangles and that’s what I’m still doing to this date. You can definitely use a knife but a pizza cutter works the best for this.

And it’s time to eat! Sometimes I add a bit of ketchup, sriracha, sour cream or some other sauce on top of the pancake, but that’s completely optional and not really necessary.

And that’s it for today, I hope you will give this recipe a try. See you next time.

Have you tried to make this savory semolina pancake? Please let me know you liked it in the comments.

Optional Tips:

• I know that not everyone loves bacon, even though it’s strange 🙂 If you’re one of such people, feel free to leave it out.
• Want to make a healthier version of this semolina pancake? Swap the bacon with some veggies…finely chopped tomatoes, bell peppers or onions would be great choices.
• When I cook this dish for myself, I add a bit of spicy sauce into the dough to give it some heat. Try it!
• You can increase the amount of cheese too! I’ve tried to double it and it worked just great.
• I’m usually making one large semolina pancake, but you can also opt in to make smaller ones. You can make them as large or small as you please.

More Breakfast Recipes:

• 2 simple chicken liver recipes with or without eggs.
• Canned tuna spread with onions.
• Farmers scrambled eggs loaded with flavors.
• Egg and cheese spread with chives.
• Vegan savory galette with pumpkin.