Another way to fry cheese: ricotta fritters

Some time ago, I was talking with the head of my work department, who is a man who likes good food, and good wine. I was telling him about fricco, the wonderful chip of baked or fried montasio cheese. I was making them that weekend. You have to imagine this next line in a Tennesee accent, from someone who has lived in Texas for a long, LONG time:

"Fried cheese? Well, there isn't any debate about that. There is nothing finer."

OK, 'fess up. Every single one of you while laughing can remember eating those little bits of burned cheese on dishes, or picking the crispy parts off of mac and cheese, and so forth.

I'm not making that up now, am I? Let's admit it: we love fried things, and we LOOOOOOVVVVVE fried cheese. Period. Mozzarella in carozza, fricco, deep fried cheese sticks, the list goes on.

Well, here's a fancy one. And I have to admit, when I first saw it, I said "not going to work." When I decided to try it, I thought "it's gonna fail."

Well, it worked. It's pretty easy too. But please read Annalena's plea at the end of this. It has nothing to do with cooking. It has to do with saving our planet.

Ricotta fritters are a soft, delightful way to get your fried cheese jones satisfied. They're something different: sort of like a cross between a pancake and a chip. Not hard to do, but some planning is in order.

First, you need a pound of GOOD QUALITY ricotta. I get mine from the farmers' market, in these little baskets that allow liquid to leech out. Use something like that. Don't use that ghastly thing that ends in a big O (I've said that before, haven't I?). Even with the good quality stuff, put it in a sieve or something and let it drain for at least six hours. When I made it, I also used half a pound of good quality mozzarella (NOT the stuff that ends in an O), chopped fine. You could add parmesan, about half a cup, grated, but I did not. You could also add chopped smoked meats, or peas, or both. Again, none are necessary and I just wanted the pure flavor of the cheese.

OK, you mix the ricotta, the mozzarella, 3 large egg yolks , a bit less than a teaspoon of salt, a few turns of black pepper from your pepper mill, and 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs, plain or flavored. Also, get half a cup of those bread crumbs and put them in a bowl, separate from the cheese and whatnot. Finally, get a big frying pan, and put two cups of oil in it.

Measure the first fritter. It should be about a tablespoon and a half of cheese. Form a ball in your hands, and then roll it in the bread crumbs. Put it on a paper towel lined baking sheet, and keep on doing that with all the other cheese. You'll get about 22-24 of them. Press them into ovals.

Get your oil hot - to 350 degrees or so (here's how to tell: take a wooden spoon and put the handle end of it in the oil. When bubbles form angrily around that stem, the oil is ready).

Carefully put the cheese discs into the oil, and have two large tablespoons and a slotted spoon ready. After about a minute and a half, turn the discs and fry for another minute and a half. Scoop them out, drain them on the paper towel, and you know what? You are done.

I served these with a sauce I made of ramp leaves, olive oil and toasted walnuts. Essentially a ramp pesto. Just dip em in. If you drain the fritters well, they are fine cold, or you could warm em up. The keep beautifully.

Now, the plea. Annalena, who prides herself on being a servant of stewardship to this planet, learned recently that pouring oil down our drains, our toilets, etc, is not good. I forget the ratio, but it is something like every gallon of oil renders 1000 gallons of water non-drinkable. I did not know and that scares me. I will find another source for disposing of my used cooking oil. And if anyone has any ideas on that, please share them with us all, so that we can enjoy dishes like this, without feeling guilty about polluting our waters .