Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

"Repurposing" is my favorite kitchen word. I hate wasting food, so I was preoccupied with the leftover ricotta (from the White Pizza with Greens) that was in my fridge. I've never really used ricotta for anything before so I had to do a bunch of creative thinking to repurpose it in a delicious way.

The awesome website The Kitchn had a dead simple recipe for ricotta pancakes that I had to make. I added lemon zest and juice to jazz it up a bit. The recipe prep is easy but it does take 3 bowls - one for your dry ingredients, 1 for your wet ingredients, and 1 for whipping your egg whites.

Mix your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients, then fold in your egg whites and you have a thick and fluffy batter that you add to a buttered hot skillet.

All these bad boys needed to be perfect was an awesome syrup. I used blueberries with a little maple syrup boiled and mashed together. The flavors and colors of this syrup paired perfectly with the delicate lemon cakes.

Heavenly! Not a bad way to start a weekend, if you ask me.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup, adapted from The Kitchn

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup full fat ricotta cheese

3/4 cup whole milk

3 eggs - separated

zest and juice of 1 lemon (reserve a splash of juice for your syrup)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Tbsp maple syrup or sugar

In one bowl, mix your dry ingredients (flour, powder, sugar, salt).

In another bowl, mix your wet ingredients (ricotta, milk, yolks, lemon zest and juice, vanilla)

In a third bowl, whip your egg whites with a mixer until stiff.

Mix your wet and dry ingredients together, then gently fold in your whipped egg whites.

To make the syrup, boil your blueberries and syrup together until thickened and mash with a fork. Add a little splash of lemon juice at the end to brighten it up.

Heat a skillet, griddle, cast iron pan over medium high heat and brush a little butter over the surface. Pour one ladle of batter on skillet and spread out until it's about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Cook until little bubbles form on top, then flip and cook about 1 minute more.

Top with blueberry syrup and serve immediately.

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