Colm O'Gorman's fluffy ricotta pancakes with sumac and pomegranate strawberries

I shared a recipe for a fabulous pavlova topped with sumac and pomegranate strawberries in this column a few weeks ago. 

The hero ingredient for that pavlova are the strawberries, which are macerated in sumac, pomegranate molasses and caster sugar. When I first tasted them, I knew they would be a fabulous topping for pancakes and a new brunch recipe idea was born.

For this week’s recipe then, I have paired the strawberries with light and fluffy ricotta pancakes, and served them with roasted pistachios, some fresh mint and a lovely ricotta cream.

You will find all the ingredients easily enough in local supermarkets. Tesco stock both the sumac and raw, shelled pistachio nuts, but you can also find them in health food stores or in any good Asian supermarket. 

Use locally grown strawberries. They are easily available at the moment directly from the farm or from roadside kiosks in many parts of the country.

Ricotta Pancakes with Sumac and Pomegranate Strawberries

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Use locally grown strawberries. They are easily available at the moment directly from the farm or from roadside kiosks in many parts of the country.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• Pancakes

• 350g plain flour

• 50g caster sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp grated nutmeg

• 4 eggs

• 450ml buttermilk

• 1tsp vanilla essence

• 250g ricotta cheese

• A little butter to cook the pancakes

• Sumac and Pomegranate Strawberries

• 600g strawberries

• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

• 1 tbsp caster sugar

• 1 ½ tsp sumac

• Ricotta Cream

• 250g ricotta

• 125ml cream

• 3 tsp caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• To Serve

• 125g unshelled raw pistachio nuts

• Small handful of fresh mint leaves

Method

1. Begin by preparing the strawberries. They need at least 30 minutes to macerate, so get them going before you make the batter. Wash, hull, and halve the strawberries, leaving a handful of nice big ones intact for garnish. Place the strawberries into a bowl, along with the caster sugar, pomegranate molasses and the sumac. Stir to coat the fruit, cover with a clean tea towel, and set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Roast the pistachios on a baking tray in an oven preheated to 180 Celsius until they are fragrant and golden; about eight to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool and roughly chop them before serving.

3. Next, make the pancake batter. Combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and grated nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Separate the eggs. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add the buttermilk, ricotta, and the vanilla essence. Whisk to combine everything well. You can do this by hand. Do not use an electric whisk or mixer as you just want to combine everything, not whip it.

4. In a separate bowl, this time using an electric whisk or food mixer, whisk the egg whites until they are fluffy and form stiff peaks.

5. Combine the dry ingredients and the ricotta and buttermilk mixture. Stir well to ensure you remove any lumps and have a smooth batter. I use a balloon whisk to lightly whisk the batter to remove any small lumps.

6. Next, fold in the whisked egg whites. This is how you will incorporate all the air in the egg whites into the batter and make it light and airy. Use a flexible spatula with a wide base to add one third of the whisked egg whites to the batter, placing it in on top of the batter. Do this in a large bowl - you need a bit of room to do it properly. Get the spatula in under the batter and scoop some up, folding it in over the egg whites. Repeat this until the egg whites are well combined, using slow folding motions. Take your time and do not stir the batter or you will knock the air out of the egg whites. Once the first third of egg white is folded in, repeat twice more until you have incorporated all the egg whites into the batter. A little patience is required, but this will only take five minutes or so overall and doing it properly makes the world of difference.

7. Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you make the ricotta cream. Simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk by hand until you get a smooth cream. Ricotta can be a little grainy, so test the cream to ensure it is perfectly smooth, whisking it a bit more if needed. Set aside when it's done and move on to cook the pancakes.

8. Warm a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Throw on a knob of butter and let it melt until the butter foams. Turn the heat down to medium and spoon on some pancake batter. You want each pancake to be about eight to 10cm in diameter; about half a ladle full per pancake is about right. I usually cook my pancakes in batches of three as that is a perfect portion for one, but that will depend upon the size of your frying pan.

9. As soon as you see the surface of the pancake bubble - about three to four minutes - flip them over. The underneath should be toasted and golden. Cook the other side for another three minutes.

10. I often serve these up a portion at a time, as it only takes a few minutes to cook each batch. If you prefer to serve everyone at the same time, just pop each batch into a warm oven as you finish it and move on to the next.

11. Serve a stack of three pancakes per person, along with a generous serving of your sumac and pomegranate strawberries, a scatter of chopped roasted pistachios and some chopped fresh mint. Serve a little dish of ricotta cream on the side. Garnish each portion with a fresh strawberry and serve immediately.