Strawberry Ricotta Pancakes

“A pancake before its time just isn’t a pancake.”

My ever-eloquent father waxes poetic on the patience and attentiveness required to whip up a proper flapjack breakfast. Seeing as though neither of these skills is particularly engrained in my (otherwise diligent, efficient, infallible) character, I let him play Master Chef for the morning and read a book instead. So I suppose I can really only take half the credit for making these, having sliced strawberries, thrown together a batter and plopped myself in an armchair for the rest. A proper brunch is a relaxed brunch!

The original recipe called for significantly smaller amounts of milk and ricotta but the batter became far too lumpy and viscous to do any sort of pancake-y things, like, say, pouring. After nearly doubling the milk and adding a few more strawberries for good luck, good measure, etc, we had an appropriately runny batter that formed into nice little splats in the frying pan.

“Wait ‘til you see holes forming in the top—that’s when you know they’re really cooking.” Thanks Dad! Always appreciative of a good, if obvious, play-by-play. They did indeed bubble and they did indeed cook and any apprehension you may have initially had upon hearing “cheese” and “pancake” in the same recipe would have immediately been rescinded upon first bite. Beautiful! Not so much fluffy as creamy (re: ricotta) and just the right amount of sweet to let the strawberries take center stage. As they should.

STRAWBERRY RICOTTA PANCAKES

(adapted from Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

¾ cup ricotta cheese

1 ¼ cup milk

1 egg

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup thinly sliced strawberries

Sift dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, cheese, milk, egg, lemon zest and vanilla. Gradually beat into dry mixture. Stir in strawberries. Melt a pat of butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Pour ½ cup of batter onto pan, cook on each side about five minutes. Serve with as much fresh fruit as you can find!