Ricotta is one of those things I only think to buy if I’m making lasagna. My kids don’t currently like lasagna, so it’s been a while since we’ve had ricotta chez moi but with the onset of cold weather, I thought it might be a great opportunity to reintroduce the warm comfort of gooey lasagna to my kiddos. Here’s the not so great news: my 7 year old gave lasagne a sideways thumb (aka, it's so-so) and my 3 year old gave it a thumbs down. Apparently, tomato sauce is only okay on pizza. Hmmph. Here’s the great news: we were able to use one container of ricotta for breakfast, lunch AND dinner - nothing wasted! (recipes below)
My kids gobbled up Ricotta Apple Pancakes for breakfast. They had a hint of sweetness, thanks to vanilla extract and were packed with flavor. These pancakes are based on the quick pancake recipe from Mark Bittman that appeared in the New York Times Magazine recently and are super fast to assemble (in other words, you can do this on a hectic school morning because it's not so involved).
I used the remaining ricotta cheese to make Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups for lunch. I still had lasagna noodles, which is what I used as a wrapper here, but this can be made with any kind of wrap or tortilla. This was a fun project for my kids to get their hands dirty with - my son loved rolling his own lunch!
Check out other New Years Resolution foods right here.
Ricotta Apple Pancakes
Ricotta Apple Pancake batter
Ingredients
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of flour
4 teaspoons of water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 small apple, peeled and diced
Method
Whisk together the eggs, flour and water until there are no lumps. Add vanilla extract, cinnamon, ricotta and apple and combine. Fry these little pancakes in a pan until golden brown on each side - takes about 2 minutes per side.
Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups
Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups
Ingredients
4 lasagna sheets, boiled OR 4 small tortillas OR wraps
1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
16 baby carrots
Pinch of salt
Pinch of garlic powder (optional)
Method
Set out your wrapper of choice on a cutting board. Spread out the ricotta cheese evenly along the edge. Cut the baby carrots in half and place them evenly along the ricotta cheese. Roll up and cut into bite sized pieces. Enjoy!
