Nigella's Baci Di Ricotta

I don't know what it is with the English weather. One has always heard about its unpredictability but could have never guessed the extent of it unless one sees it! 30 degrees on Sunday and Monday and then suddenly on Tuesday it started raining cats and dogs. And I simply didn't feel like cooking. Normally we'd have Khichuri (savoury rice porridge) and Deem Bhaja (Spicy Omlettes) on a day like this but Little T hates anything to do with rice. I hate anything to do with Khichuri unless it's served with Labra (Bengali style mixed vegetable curry) on Saraswati Puja. And DH hates anything to do with vegetables! Yeah we are a family of weirdos and we are very fussy and particular about what we eat. So i tried my ''tired after doing a day's of housework'' formula and it worked! DH agreed to cook dinner - Calcutta Roadside Chowmein. I had 2 hours to spare till DH came biking back home after work. Yeah I know what you are thinking about me but I simply couldn't be bothered with cooking last night. It's one of those days...some of you will know what I mean :)

So I had some spare time, an old Ricotta tub in the fridge and this amazing recipe that I stumbled across long ago on Nigella's website and again not so long ago on Ananda's blog http://anandasagari.blogspot.com/2010/06/baci-di-ricotta-kiss-of-ricotta.html . So I decided to make these and serve them with a hot cup of cappuccino after my dear hubby came home in order to coax him again to cook dinner. But surprisingly he didn't need coaxing at all and he didn't wait for the coffee either. These tiny little ''Kisses'' disappeared before I could even take some decent photos. Little T loved them and this was her dinner along with some boiled Noodles! Nigella asks to serve them dusted with Icing Sugar and Ananda suggests Ricotta Mousse or melted chocolate.but since I made some quick Chocolate mousse to go with them. Kisses smeared in Chocolate...well you can imagine what they are like :)

Baci Di Ricotta

Ingredients : 

200 gm Ricotta

2 Eggs

75 gm plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (or more as per your taste)

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

A pinch of salt

The original recipe asks for Vegetable Oil for frying but I used Sunflower Oil

2 tbsp of Dusting Sugar/Icing Sugar for dusting (or more if you can risk it)

Method : 

Take Ricotta in a deep bowl. Beat 2 eggs separately(I always beat the eggs separately in case one or two turns out dodgy) and add them to the ricotta. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla extract and whisk eat mixture into a smooth batter. Put oil in a wide shallow pan (a teaspoonful of blob can deep fry) and heat until a tiny blob of batter sizzles when dropped in it. Take a deep rounded teaspoon and add a few drops of batter to the hot oil. Add only 4-5 blobs at a time as they fluff up. Drop them vertically to make round shapes. (I used a second teaspoon to push down the blob from the first teaspoon). The flame should be on medium otherwise the other surface with change colour quickly and the inside will remain uncooked. Taste one from the first batch to ensure thorough cooking. Cook for a minute or two on both the sides and colour them evenly. Take them out and keep them on a kitchen towel to soak out excess oil. Serve it in a pyramid on yor favourite dessert plate. I didn't get a chance to do so myself as they disappeared within minutes :). 

Recipe for Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients : 

1/2 cup Double Cream

100 gm Chocolate -try any...I used a large chocolate egg :)

Mint Leaves

Method : 

Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Alternatively melt the chocolate in a bowl kept on a pan of boiling water. Add the cream and mix. Now whip the mixture with a hand held electric mixer until soft peaks rise. Chill and garnish with a sprig of mint leaves. I used mine fresh out of my garden :)