Ricotta Pancakes with Nutella and Strawberries

I cant tell you how excited I am that the weekend is finally here. I spend the working week by myself at home, mostly online looking for work, doing phone interviews, hitting the gym and all that jazz.. My husband and I moved from Melbourne to Sydney, in October last year. The move has been good so far, though we do miss Melbourne and our friends there. Sydney seems to have agreed with us and we are both quite happy and excited to be here. The only downside being I still haven't found a job. I am an Architecture buff and a designer by profession and well I don't have a job yet. I blame my long holiday to India last November for it, I think it made me a little slack! The upside of this situation is that I finally started my food blog. I had been thinking about it for years but never got down to it - you can call me the queen of procrastination :-)

So coming back to the weekend, its great to have the hubby to myself and also indulge in some outdoor activities that have to revolve around food - but of course! Trips to the fresh food markets, trying new restaurants and trying new recipes and one appreciative husband rubbing his belly - Weekends are good :-)

This Saturday was Pancakes day - I missed the actual Pancakes Day so I think I over compensated for it with three different pancake toppings. I couldn't make up my mind so thought will make all three fruity sides. I will put all three recipes as separate posts otherwise it may get both confusing and overwhelming, for me anyways.Its safe to say we wont be having lunch or dinner (umm lets not get ahead of ourselves now :P) . 

(continues from the previous post)

This is the second variety of pancakes in the weekend Pancakes feast in my kitchen. I don't hear anyone complaining! This one has light fluffy ricotta pancakes topped with nutella and almonds served with a side of strawberry sauce. All I can say is YUMM! You wont regret this :-)

Recipe

(Pancake batter recipe adapted from Food Babbles)

yields 10-12 Pancakes

Ingredients

Pancakes

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

250 g ricotta cheese (do not substitute fat-free)

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1 Tablespoon canola oil, or vegetable oil

11/2 cups light milk (you may you less, just add enough to get a batter of manageable consistency)

1/4 cup Chopped Almonds 

Nutella - 1/2 tbsp per pancake (add more or less if you wish)

Strawberry Sauce

1 Punnet of strawberries

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp water

Method

Firstly lets get started on the strawberry Sauce. In a small pan add the sugar water and strawberries give it a good swirl and put it on the heat. let it cook till the strawberries are just softened and the sugar dissolved and the sauce is nice and syrupy. Keep it aside to cool.

To make the pancake batter, take a medium bowl and add all the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and give it a good mix.

(Sorry Random thought - I just love my owl spatula, its cute isn't it)

In another bowl mix the wet ingredients, ricotta, egg whites and egg, canola oil,  and milk (add enough to get a batter of manageable consistency). Give it a good mix and fold it into the dry ingredients. Mix so that everything is well combined.

Heat a non stick skillet and brush with a tsp of canola oil. Add about a quarter cup of batter on the skillet and flatten with a spoon and make it into a round. Once the underside is golden brown and cooked flip it and cook the other side. This will take another two minutes Repeat the process for the rest of the pancakes.

To serve spread half a tbsp of nutella on each pancake and sprinkle chopped almonds on it. Serve pancakes with a generous helping of the strawberry syrup.

Enjoy!