Jammy Pancakes!

Fritelle Dolce di Ricotta Fresca, Confettura di Lampone & Vaniglia con Pistacchi & Ricotta Fresca

Raspberry Jam, Ricotta & Vanilla Pancakes with Fresh Ricotta & Pistachios

Valentines Day- and I don't have a sweetheart to share my pancakes with- oh boo-hoo! Except... I just made my pancakes WITH a sweet heart- so, what of it? Future sweethearts will have to make their own if they want to taste them- huh!

Seriously though, I tried a little experiment today, which, admittedly didn't turn out the way I WANTED it to... but was still delicious enough that I will do it again! Maybe you will too wink emoticon ...

So, yes, they DO look a little dark (hehe) and they WERE supposed to turn out looking a little pink-colored (in my imagination!)- but these are the facts:

I added jam into the pancake batter in the hope that it would not only add some lovely flavor, but also turn it pink. Which it did. But then reality set-in of course and that jam, or the sugar in it, began to caramelize during frying and of course THAT turned dark, as you can see. As it was already dark red, it looked kinda dark at the end... but frankly- it tasted so delicious that... who cares? tee-hee!

So, for 3 lovely pancakes, you will need 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of ricotta, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, a little vanilla, 2 tablespoons of jam (any), butter for frying and chopped pistachios or any other kind of chopped nuts to sprinkle on top.

And, in all honesty... I still think they looked pretty damned delicious anyway... and the flavor? Well... whadda you think?

So- into a bowl it all went- the egg, 1 tablespoon of ricotta, 2 tablespoons of flour, the baking powder, jam and a little vanilla... and it all simply got whisked-together, as un-fussy as you like!

I only added 1 tablespoon of ricotta at first, in order to check the consistency- you can always add more if necessary, but you can't take it away, right? And yes... at this point it was indeed pink! Sigh!

I decided to try to be clever and use this tiny pan today... but, nah- it's really not worth the extra hassle- hehe! In any case, fry in sufficient butter until bubbles begin to form in the batter- you know how!

Then flip and fry for 1-2 minutes more from the other side... and you're done!

You could always serve them with a dusting of powdered sugar- especially if you don#t like the darkness... but frankly, they were sweet enough as they were for me, and so I added the remaining ricotta on top instead... and those lovely, emerald green pistachios!

And yep- I would have shared with a sweetheart if I had one! But I don't- so I ate them all by by lonesome! And they made a lonely Valentines Day just that little bit sweeter... so there!