Sage Lemon Ricotta Fritters

Whenever I fly, I think that I am one of the few people who actually reads the airline magazine in the seat pocket in front of me.  I love some of the articles highlighting restaurants in the various cities that the particular airline serves.  This recipe came from a Southwest Airlines magazine in November of 2012.  The chef who created the recipe was Jenn Louis, the owner of a restaurant named Lincoln Restaurant in Portland, Oregon.  That got my attention, because when I was a kid in Boone, Iowa, we had a restaurant called the Lincoln Restaurant. 

Lincoln highway, U.S. thirty, ran right through my home town and the Lincoln restaurant was located on that highway.  They had great fried chicken, pies and the best cinnamon rolls ever. When the Interstate system came into play, U.S. thirty lost most of it's traffic to I-35 and like Radiator Springs in the movie Cars, Boone began to lose many of it's businesses.  Sadly, the Lincoln was one of the losses. 

Why and how would I have a recipe from a 2012 airline magazine you might ask.  As we travel, I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes or dishes that I can try in a restaurant.  If I see a recipe, that I think I might like, I write it down or tear it out of the magazine that I am reading.  If  I discover a new dish in a restaurant, I make a few notes and try to reproduce it when I get home.  If I like what I come up with, I write down the recipe. I have been keeping these recipes for at least the last thirty years, so in addition to a large number of cookbooks, we have a three inch thick binder that is full of all of the recipes we have collected.  I have an index on the computer and every few months I update it with the new things we have picked up.  That index gets printed out and then goes in the front of the binder.  At this point, the index is 8 single spaced pages long. a little over 400 recipes. 

Back to this recipe.  Zeppole are Italian dessert fritters.  They are sweet. This is a savory version that takes out the sugar and adds sage.  They are served with a garlic/lemon aioli, and make a great appetizer.  They are easy to make and I think you will like them.  Give it a try !!

Ingredients for fritters: (makes 40 fritters)

1 pound ricotta
4 eggs
1 cup, all purpose flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 TBSP chopped fresh sage
1 tsps. kosher salt
zest of 2 lemons
vegetable oil
kosher salt
grated pecorino

Preparation:

With a mixer, cream ricotta and eggs.  Blend in flour, baking powder, sage, salt, and lemon zest.  Chill batter for thirty minutes.  Fill a pan with 11/2" of vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees.  Fry tablespoon-sized balls of batter until cooked through, about four minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, lay on paper towels to dry and sprinkle with salt and grated pecorino.  Serve with aioli. (recipe below)

Ingredients for aioli:

2 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
1 tsps. coarse salt
1 egg yolk
1 cup + 2 TBSP canola oil

Preparation:

With a mixer combine lemon juice, garlic and salt,  Add egg yolk and blend.  While continuing to blend, with the mixer running slowly, add oil a little at a time until emulsified.