The Laziest Man I Ever Met...

"The laziest man I ever met put popcorn in his pancakes so they would turn over themselves."
- W.C. Fields

Ricotta. I have a love/hate relationship with the smooth, milk-whey cheese. I always forget how much I do not enjoy it until I use it and am epically disappointed by it's lack of depth in flavor. I always regret my purchase and catch myself saying "goats cheese would have been perfect".

Last week my bestie came over an impromptu late supper and wine. I had been surfing the online recipe world and found an appie that consisted of grilled cherry tomatoes, garlic and ricotta on grilled bread. How delicious does that sound? I popped over to the grocery store, picked up a few staples and fired up the grill.

Well, if it had been a more flavorful cheese I think I would have LOVED the recipe. I will make it again but I will substitute the ricotta with goats cheese... but all you ricotta lovers, go to it!

Of course the next day I had an entire tub of bland old ricotta left in my fridge. I do enjoy it in baked goods so I got on the horn to find a recipe to use up all this cheese. I settled on lemon-ricotta pancakes and I have to say I take all my above hate for the cheese back. It made fluffy, perfect pancakes, by far the best I have made EVER. They were light, fluffy and the hint of lemon was dreamy.

You can find both ricotta recipes below (my variations at least!). Happy whizzing about in the kitchens all!
-m

Grilled Cherry Tomatoes on Grilled Toast

Fire up your BBQ and soak a handful of bamboo skewers in water while you do your prep!

You will need:

• Around  a pound of cherry tomatoes
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• about 10-12, 8" bamboo skewers
• Sliced crusty bread
• 1/2-1 cup of ricotta cheese (or goats...)

Combine oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Toss cherry tomatoes in oil mixture to coat and slice bread. Thread tomatoes onto skewers (4-5 per skewer). Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Grill on medium heat for three to four minutes per side. Brush the rest of the marinade on bread and place bread on grill while tomatoes cook. When done, spread ricotta in a nice thin layer on bread and top with grilled tomatoes. Serve warm (with a crisp white wine!).


Lemon and ricotta pancakes (This recipe is the best!!)
Adapted from "The recipe critic blog" 

You will need:

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs, at room temperature, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl combine ricotta, milk, yolks, lemon, sugar, zest and mix. Sift dry ingredients into ricotta mix and stir! In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until frothy, add salt and continue to whisk until peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into ricotta mix and stir until combined (don't over do it!). Scoop onto hot non-stick pan or griddle (~1/4 cup). Cook until bubbles form on the top and then flip and cook for a minute or so longer. Repeat with the rest of the batter and serve warm with maple syrup! Tip- I turn my oven on to 200 degrees and place the finished pancakes in an oven-proof dish while the rest are cooking, that way everyone gets nice hot pancakes!