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You may not know that actress, food blogger, and all-around awesome lady Debi Mazar is hosting a new show on the Cooking Channel called Extra Virgin. To celebrate the launch, she taught me how to make pancakes!

On Extra Virgin, which debuts on Wednesday, January 19, at 10pm, Debi and her husband, native Italian Gabriele Corcos, show viewers how to make all the Tuscan-inspired dishes they've been writing about on their blog, Under the Tuscan Gun, for years. Since I have absolutely no skills in the kitchen, Debi thought it would be fun to give me a little cooking lesson.

We got together at the Food Network test kitchen here in New York where she and Gabriele taught me how to make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. She even forced me to separate my own eggs, that slave driver. They were quite yummy, and if I managed to make them, then anyone who knows a spatula from a whisk should be able to do the same. The recipe is below. Enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • Zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 4 farm fresh large eggs, separated
  • Butter, for griddle

Heat a nonstick griddle to medium-high heat.

Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, lemon zest, ricotta, and yolks in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.
Spread some butter on the hot pancake griddle.

Ladle 1/2-cup size pancakes onto the hot griddle and cook for about 2 minutes per side, until golden. Keep pancakes warm in a 200 degree F oven before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

[Video edited by Matt Toder, shot by Jeff Larson]