Amanda Hesser's Hazelnut-Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes

I'm sort of torn about The New York Times Magazine food page. There are times when I don't even bother to tear it out, and other times when it's among the best food writing I've read all year. I can't stand the flimsy paper - the recipes end up getting grease-soaked and dog-eared after three minutes in the kitchen - but the stories can be so whimsically interesting and utterly useful (who knew that David Halberstam - my commencement speaker, incidentally - was married to such a great cook? And that deep-fried peaches could be delicious? I'm eternally grateful to Steven Raichlen and his rice perfumed with ginger and coconut. And where, by the way, has Julia Reed gone? Has Vogue swallowed her up entirely? Does she not need to eat anymore?).

Amanda Hesser's recent piece on lemons and their desert-island qualities was one of those articles that I couldn't read just once. It was my bedtime reading a few times over. Not just because it was practical and informative (though it was) but also because it was a joy to read: "[Lemon] is the pillar of lemon-meringue pie, the sting in tabbouleh, the perfume in genoise, the zip in chicken tandoori, the structure in hollandaise, the clarity in a hot toddy and the fragrance in German hazelnut cookies." People have piled on Amanda Hesser for all sorts of reasons (I think the overarching one is jealousy), but the fact remains that her food writing is smart and lovely.

She included a recipe she'd developed by combining a recipe for hazelnut waffles from Balthazar with one for lemon-ricotta pancakes from Four Seasons, using a recipe for cottage-cheese pancakes from the Joy of Cooking as the base to work from. After the weekend in Boston celebrating my old man's birthday, I came back to New York laden down with 2 pounds of leftover ricotta (his birthday cheesecake required it), not to mention fresh sun-dried tomatoes from Apulia, salted capers, cruets of basil and lemon oil, Easter eggs of chocolate-cloaked marzipan, and pistachio paste. Yes, folks, my mother's in town. My new-found bounty has me all in a tizzy and I'm washing jam jars frenziedly to prepare them for marinated sun-dried tomatoes. But I digress! We were talking about ricotta.

In an attempt to use up some of the mounds of ricotta sitting in my fridge (any other ideas, by the way?), I decided to kill several birds with one stone: not only would I make breakfast for my mother, but I'd use up some ricotta, make a recipe for the blog, and break in my very first cast-iron pan. All of this, admittedly, was a bit much to take on a Tuesday morning. But you know me and my morning determination: nothing can get in the way of it. Thanks to the soothing explanation from Sara Kate over at The Kitchen, I seasoned my pan last night (don't think I left it in the oven long enough, though, because it was still a bit sticky when I took it out) and got to work this morning.

I started by rubbing together lemon zest and sugar (this mixture really is aphrodisiacal - if I ate more sugar, I'd be using this on everything), then stirring it with the dry ingredients that included toasted, chopped hazelnuts. In another bowl, I whisked together milk, vanilla, melted butter, eggs, and strained ricotta (though for the "straining" I had all of 4 minutes - not quite sure this is what Amanda had in mind, but it didn't seem to make a difference). I folded the wet mixture into the dry, then folded in stiff egg whites, before heating some butter in my glorious new pan and gently frying up 1/4 cup portions of pancakes.

We ate them with a fillip of creamed honey on top, though I'm not sure they even needed it (a barely-there dusting of powdered sugar would be prettier). The pancakes were light and airy from the beaten eggs, nubby and toasty from the pulverized nuts and fragrant with lemon zest and ricotta. They were absolutely delicious and delightfully light (pancakes usually sit in my belly like a lead weight) so if I were you, I'd print out this recipe and laminate it or something.

Comments

[lindy]

I loved that lemon article too. I think Amanda Hesser's writing varies greatly, sometimes very good, other times a bit cutesy. She clearly knows a fair amount about cooking, and these look great. Actually, I think I've made every recipe in that article, but this one. Must do something about the oversight.

[radish]

I happen to love Amanda Hesser's writing - and loved reading her food courtship with her now-husband, then Mr. Latte. But I have to say that as a restaurant critic, she's an odd bird. It seems as if she likes Craft and Craft alone out of restaurants out there. And perhaps this is why she's not well-regarded. The line you quoted about lemons is one of my favorites that she's written!

[foodmomiac]

Oh that sounds wonderful. I'm on a ricotta kick lately. Must add this to my list of recipes to try.

[Bea at La Tartine Gourmande]

Not related to your post Luisa but I read your commentr about the Liberty yogurt and I too am a HUGE fan of it. So glad we can buy it here. My other alternative is to make my own when I run short as most other yogurts are just not tasty. The other one I love is Erivan. Try it if you do not know it yet!

And now, back to post, nice pancakes. Interesting to use ricotta for it.

[dara]

I just had to say hello and thak you for the awesome site! This is the first time I have looked at your site and there are THREE recipes I've been dying to try! The pancakes, the Romesco potatoes, and Bobby's chicken. It is always nice to know there are people otu there who obsess about food and food writing as much as I do! Hooray!

[Georgia]

Yum! And don't you love that she brought attention to the kumquats?

As to your ricotta problem, there's always lasagna!

[Julie]

I am not a regular reader of the Sunday NY Times. I go in fits and starts, but I did see and clip the article about David Halberstam's wife.

She mentions a pasta made with cherry tomatoes which I made a lot last summer. The fried peaches struck me as too much effort for the end product. Frying is a big production for me.

The pancakes sound delicious.

[Luisa]

Julie - I'll probably also never get around to actually deep-frying fruit, but it just tickled me that this little lady was throwing batter-coated peaches into a vat of Crisco.

Georgia - now I'll sound like a prig, but I make lasagna with bechamel sauce (though I'm sure there are Sicilians who use ricotta in their lasagna, I learned my recipe from a dear friend from Bologna who would fall over in her chair if someone slipped ricotta into her lasagna...)

Dara - I'm so glad you like the site! Thank you. And I hope you like those recipes as much as I did.

Bea - I wonder if I can get Erivan in New York? I'm thinking about starting a Liberte yogurt fan club, luckily Ben's mother and sister are also on board. I think?

Foodmomiac - Your kids will love them too, I'm sure.

Radish - I always thought Amanda's favorites were any and all of JG Vongerichten's restaurants :) Anyway, my take on the whole thing is that no matter who does the reviewing at the NY Times, someone's going to have a problem with it. Witness the Bruni Digest, the hate mail Ruth Reichl used to get, Amanda's blogosphere haters, etc.

Lindy - The Coca-Cola chicken sounds interesting - maybe if I keep the ingredients a secret, I can make this for my next Sunday dinner with Ben.

[ann]

luisa
you can totally get erivan in nyc - next time you're in the EV that weird half gourmet grocery/half bodega "gracefully" on ave A btwn 2nd & 3rd has it
i've never tried it b/c i'm addicted to redwood farms goat yogurt YUM! and glad your pan worked out, you'll wonder how you ever lived without one in the past!
enjoy!

[Luisa]

Ann - thanks for the tip! I realized the next time I was at a grocery store that I knew full well what Erivan was...by sight. But Redwood Farms goat yogurt? I'll have to try it, too! I do like a bit of goat milk. I'm so thrilled with my pan - isn't it nice how little things can make you happy? :)

[ann]

if you love goat cheese, you'll love the yogurt, especially the plain, it has the most lovely, herbal, chevre-y flavors
i've gotten mine at whole foods and i've seen it at murray's cheese
ENJOY!

[Helen]

I just found your blog last week and it is turning out to be incredibly inspirational. I made these hazelnut lemon pancakes for brunch today and they were awesome! I wonder if this recipe would work as waffles... Thank you so much for this wonderful idea.

[Luisa]

Helen - I'm so glad you liked the pancakes! I feel like the batter would be a bit delicate for a waffle iron, but you never know. Worth a try in any case.

[JN]

I've always liked the idea of pancakes, but like you, am always left with a heavy feeling in my stomach after having eaten them. These, however, were so light and so so good! I couldn't find hazelnuts, so used ground almonds instead. I couldn't get enough of the lemon flavour, so had the pancakes with icing sugar and lemon - mmmmm.... It was worth the extra amount of prep time than usual for pancakes. Wonderful for those lazy Sundays :)