It’s pancake day today and we can’t wait to get flipping!
We always look forward to pancake day at Natoora. It comes at a time of year when citrus is at its best so what better way to flavour these doughy delights than with fresh oranges and lemons.

Shrove Tuesday arose through the need to use up food that were forbidden during Lent. So what will we be stuffing in ours this Tuesday…?

Large Sicilian Oranges: Make your own crepe suzette with these sweet, juicy oranges, sugar, butter and of course, some Cointreau.
Rhubarb: Our fantastic forced rhubarb from Yorkshire will be fantastic stewed with sugar and generously dolloped inside a fresh pancake.
Amalfi Lemons: The real classic, just squeeze over and add sugar or even better, try with Ricotta in our recipe below.
Hazelnut and Chocolate Spread: Rich, chocolatey spread, even better when a little melted.
Blueberries: Leave for an hour with brown sugar and creme di cassis and you’ve got heaven in a bowl.
Pears: Roast and serve with vanilla cream or ice cream.

It might not go in a pancake, but also well worth a try this week is the amazing wild pink radicchio. It is only around for a couple of weeks so make sure you don’t miss out. So beauitful it is just as at home on display as it is for eating!

Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes

Serves 4

1 Lemon
200gr Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg, Beaten
200ml Semi-Skimmed milk
200g Ricotta
1 knob Butter
Icing Sugar (to dust)
250g Mixed Berries

Mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the middle, then pour in the egg and a bit of milk. With a wooden spoon, gradually draw the flour into the liquid until you have a smooth batter. Mix in the rest of the milk and the juice of half the lemon. Beat in the ricotta.

In a large, non-stick frying pan, add the butter. Heat and swirl the butter aroud to cover the bottom. If there is any extra, tip out the excess and reserve. Here we are making 3 or 4 pancakes at once, so spoon in tablespoons of batter, spaced well apart.

Cook on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip over with a fish slice and cook for a couple more minutes until golden. Set aside and repeat until all the mixture is used up.

To serve, top with berries, grated lemon zest and a sprinkling of icing sugar.