Buckwheat flour and bacon pancakes

Winter has been long and gloomy. I love the light rain, but just in London, not in my Tuscan countryside, it doesn’t fit at all! This is the reason I really strive for spring every year, as billions of people around the world! Just as the most longed for birthday gift, spring as arrived, and along with spring, sweet scents telling stories of woods, hedges and flowers and bees and new life!

I really love cooking in every season, but during the winter all I desire is a long and slow cooking, a simmering pot and a tale next to the fireplace. Now it is spring, and I still want to cook when I get home from work, but I look for simple things, something you can make as long as the light lasts, so that you can enjoy a scrumptious dinner and a drink with your friends. Chats with your girlfriends in front of a delicious dinner with a sparkling cocktail and contagious laughs as background music are definitely the best conclusion of the day!

Buckwheat flour and bacon pancakes

Ingredients (makes about 10 to 12 pancakes):

• 250 g ricotta cheese – or cottage cheese
• 200 ml fresh milk
• 2 eggs
• 200 g buckwheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 large pinch of salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 200 g smoked bacon
• butter to grease the pan

Directions:

1. Whisk the ricotta with the egg yolks and milk until it gets creamy and smooth.
2. In a large bowl, sieve the buckwheat flour with the baking powder and add it to the egg mixture.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold in into the mixture.
4. Heat a non stick pan over medium heat and grease with a knob of butter.
5. Pour two heaping tablespoons of dough onto the pan and let it cook for about a minute. When small holes begin to appear over the pancake surface, flip it with a spatula and cook the other side for another minute, then remove from the pan.
6. Every time you cook a pancake, grease the pan. Stack the pancakes on a plate.

A tip. To get perfectly round pancakes, place a 10 cm large round cookie cutter or pastry ring onto the greased pan and pour the mixture into the cutter. Before turning the pancake, remove the cutter and you’ll have perfectly round pancakes!

To serve

Ingredients for the béchamel sauce:

• 25 g butter
• 25 g plain flour
• 200 ml fresh milk
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese
• chopped chives

Directions:

1. Melt the butter over low heat and mix in the flour, toasting it and stirring constantly with a whisk for a few minutes, until golden and nutty.
2. Pour in the milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
3. Once the béchamel is smooth and thick, remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese.
4. Season with salt
5. Pour the béchamel sauce over the stack of pancakes and sprinkle with some chopped chives.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Two footnotes:

1. This recipe is my first contribution for Montorsi, a well know Italian brand of cold cuts, bacon, sausages and so on.. so stay tuned for more delicious recipes!
2. On Friday I got a news published on Jamie Oliver’s web site, My Tuscany. Those who have been following me for a few months are perfectly aware of my deep love for Jamie and his easy-going and fun style, so you can easily figure out my happiness beyond any words!

Related posts:

Ricotta, ham and parsley ravioli Riz rouge de Camargue with fennel confit Quick Monday post: anchovy and breadcrumb cake Savory rice tartlets with smoked scamorza and pancetta