Recipes from Rome - Pancakes

 
At home, Shrove Tuesday is a day for making pancakes to use up the butter and eggs which are traditionally foods not eaten in Lent.
In Rome, however, we always have pancakes for breakfast at least a couple of times during our trip.
We use the Sweet Ricotta Pancakes recipe from Olive magazine. I usually weigh the flour, baking powder and sugar in to a plastic container and take that with us.
We make a point of visiting Mercato San Teodoro on a Saturday or Sunday morning and pick up some Peppovo eggs.

 

The star of the recipe has to be the fresh ricotta and some of the best in Rome is sold by Roberto at Antica Caciara (Via di S. Francesco a Ripa, 140A/B, Trastevere) The store was founded in 1900 by Roberto's grandfather and Roberto himself has worked there for over 50 years

 
The ricotta is bought in from the Lazio countryside early each day and is usually snapped up by lunchtime.
 
 
 
Obviously we don't have the luxury of a food processor in our rented apartment so we make do with a wooden spoon and an old fashioned mixing bowl.
Whisking the egg whites with a metal whisk is tedious but well worth the effort as the folded in egg whites result in a light & fluffy pancake.
The honey that we serve with the pancakes also comes from Antica Caciara. It is made on Roberto's own farm.
We finish the dish with whatever fruits are in season. In August/September this usually means figs.
 
 
 
At other times of year we go with what ever appeals to us in the market.