Ricotta Pancakes with Banana Pecan Syrup

I stumbled upon this while searching for a recipe to use up my big bucket of ricotta cheese. While I absolutely love Ina Garten's Banana Sour Cream Pancake, I was still very intrigued by this recipe and didn't mind another pancake recipe in my repertoire.

This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you can find in any pantry and ricotta (I guess you can argue this as a pantry staple in an Italian home). At the same time, it skips the vanilla extract or lemon zest that are the standard in most homemade pancakes. And... the verdict?

Wow, I was absolutely blown away! This is probably even lighter & fluffier than Ina's recipe, and the syrup was just absolutely divine. It makes the regular maple syrup even appropriate for a company. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

For the Banana-Pecan syrup:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 small bananas, thinly sliced (3/4 cup)
1 cup cane or maple syrup

For the Ricotta pancakes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 ounces ricotta, well drained (1/2 cup)
Butter or vegetable oil

Directions

For the Banana-Pecan Syrup:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and saute for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the bananas and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the syrup and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the syrup is hot and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place.

For the Ricotta Pancakes:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together onto waxed paper or a plate. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or whisk until stiff but not dry. Beat the egg yolks, milk, and ricotta together in a large bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently with a large spoon. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula.
Warm a serving platter in a 200 degree F oven.

Heat a nonstick flat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Grease with butter or vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until bubbles form on the surface, then flip the pancakes over using a large wide spatula. Cook on the other side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to the warm platter.

Serve immediately or hold in the oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes. Serve the pancakes on heated plates topped with the syrup.