I have a dear friend who lives in Italy. She’s a great cook and baker, and every time I talk to her, it appears she’s in the kitchen, behind the stove, cooking or baking something for her family’s next meal! The kitchen is where she loves to be, and when I visit her in person, she’s usually wearing an apron and flip-flops; that’s her summer uniform, it seems! I love visiting her because when I do, she always offers me a sweet treat she just baked. As a gracious guest, I always bring her food-based gifts such as cheeses, a basket of fresh figs or peaches, or wine. All gifts I know she’ll use for her family.

Several years ago, I was invited to her home for an outdoor brunch in her yard. She has a beautiful backyard where she hosts all her guests during the summer. Her fruit-filled trees make it that much more appealing. 

She had a beautiful spread of food during breakfast, but what appealed most to me were her ricotta pancakes. Pancakes aren’t a thing in Italy; they are rarely eaten or enjoyed, so I asked her where she had learned to make them. I was expecting her to say her mother or her nonna, but instead, she said, “On the internet!” She said she had taken a basic pancake recipe and threw in some ricotta she had on hand in the batter! “Of course you did,“ I thought. She’s excellent at “throwing” recipes together, resulting in delicious final products. She served the pancakes with homemade cherry jam for the adults and Nutella for the kids. I told her that she needed some real Vermont maple syrup to go with them, so now, I always bring her some real syrup from Vermont when I visit her from the States.

Here’s her recipe, or at least what she was willing to tell me is her recipe! Her favorite reply when I ask her for specific amounts of ingredients in her recipes is “Quanto Basta!”  Quanto basta in Italian means, “until it’s enough” so when asked how much of this or that is added, many Italians will tell you, quanto basta, until it’s enough! Of course, the tricky part is knowing when it’s enough! How much flour, you ask? “Quanto basta!” How much ricotta? “Quanto basta!” It’s a cooking philosophy that can be tricky but that I adore. Let the ingredients and dishes tell you when it’s enough. And amazingly, everything always comes out perfectly.  

These pancakes are great topped with real maple syrup, whipped cream, and fruit. A spear of high-quality jam also works wonderfully.

Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes

Yields 6 pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole-milk ricotta
2 large eggs
¾ cups milk (I use skim)
Zest of 1 organic lemon or 1 organic orange
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
½ tablespoon butter, divided (for the pan)
½ cup blueberries 

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, add the ricotta, eggs, milk and zest and mix gently with a hand whisk. Use a fork, if needed, to break down any lumps of the ricotta.
2. Sift the flour over the batter, add the baking powder and sugar and mix to combine. Due to the addition of the ricotta the batter will be fairly thick,  thicker than usual pancake batter
3. Heat a griddle or large frying pan and melt about half the butter. Pour about two 1/3 cup servings of batter into the pan to form 2 pancakes at a time, depending on the size of the pan, you may be able to fit 3 pancakes. Drop several blueberries on top of the batter. Cook until bubbles form on the edges,  about 45 – 50 seconds for the first 2 pancakes, 35 – 40 seconds afterwards. Flip the pancakes and cook the other side for about 30  seconds, until golden.
4. Continue with the rest of the batter, melting off additional butter as needed.
5. Serve with maple syrup, blueberries, strawberries, jam, whipped cream or as desired.

• Note that because the batter is thicker, the end result will not be perfectly round pancakes, but a bit more rustic.
• Variations: You can substitute other fruits or chocolate chips in place of the blueberries.