Lemon Ricotta
Pancakes with
Blood Orange EVOO
+ Wild Blueberry Drizzle
Fluffy, golden, and impossibly bright — this Mother's Day brunch hero is easy, elegant, and tells a flavor story you won't forget.
When customers ask us which product surprises them the most, the Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil is almost always in the answer. The combination sounds unusual — olive oil pressed with blood oranges — until the moment you taste it. Warm, citrusy, and deeply aromatic in a way that makes you want to put it on everything.
And that's exactly what we did here. Our Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil goes right into the pancake batter itself, replacing neutral oil and perfuming every bite with a warm citrus note that plays beautifully against the ricotta. Then comes the finish — a generous drizzle of our Aged Wild Blueberry Dark Balsamic in place of maple syrup, thick and jammy and just sweet enough.
The result is a stack that looks like it came from a very good brunch spot and tastes like something your mom will actually remember. Easy enough for a Tuesday, elegant enough for Mother's Day.
Two Ingredients That Do the Heavy Lifting
This recipe borrows from classic French and Italian brunch traditions — ricotta pancakes, fresh citrus, fruit reductions — but uses two products that put in all the flavor work before you even turn on the stove. The blood orange is pressed right into the oil at harvest, so the flavor goes bone-deep. The wild blueberry is aged into the balsamic until it's thick, complex, and fruity without being cloying.
The best recipes have one moment where you taste a single element and just stop. This is a two-moment recipe — once when you smell the batter, and once when you eat the whole stack together.
— The Olive 'n Vinnie's KitchenWe pair the Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil — a robust, fragrant oil with notes of orange zest and fresh-pressed olives — with the jammy depth of our Aged Wild Blueberry Dark Balsamic. It's one of our favorite seasonal pairings and the combination is genuinely unlike anything you can approximate with grocery store ingredients.
Goes in the Batter
Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil
Pressed with whole blood oranges at harvest — not flavored after the fact, not extracted. The citrus is fused directly into the oil, giving it a warm, aromatic intensity that comes through in everything you cook with it. Use it in place of neutral oil in the batter and the whole kitchen smells incredible. Also gorgeous drizzled over the finished stack.
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The Drizzle
Aged Wild Blueberry Dark Balsamic
Thick, jammy, and deeply fruity — this is the balsamic that makes guests ask "what IS that?" It replaces maple syrup entirely here and completely earns the job. The sweet-tart depth of wild blueberries aged into Trebbiano grape must is genuinely unlike anything from a grocery store shelf. Warm it slightly before drizzling and it becomes even more pourable and fragrant.
Shop This ProductFrom the Olive 'n Vinnie's Kitchen
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
The stack that makes Mother's Day feel like it actually counted.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
- 3 large eggs, separated
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil, plus more for the pan
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- To Finish:
- Aged Wild Blueberry Dark Balsamic, warmed slightly
- Fresh blueberries
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Fresh mint leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk together ricotta, egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Blood Orange Olive Oil until smooth. The batter should already smell incredible — it does.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. This is the move that makes these pancakes impossibly fluffy. Don't skip it.
- Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into the ricotta mixture until just combined — lumps are fine. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites in two additions. Keep that air in there.
- Let the batter rest 5 minutes while you heat a non-stick pan over medium-low. Brush with a little Blood Orange Olive Oil.
- Drop batter by generous ¼-cup scoops. Cook 3–4 minutes until bubbles form and edges look set. Flip once, cook 2 more minutes. These aren't pancakes you rush.
- Warm the Wild Blueberry Balsamic in a small saucepan or 20 seconds in the microwave — it becomes even more pourable and aromatic.
- Stack, dust with powdered sugar, scatter fresh blueberries, drizzle generously with balsamic, and finish with a small drizzle of Blood Orange Olive Oil.
Make It Your Own
These pancakes are incredibly versatile. Fold a handful of fresh blueberries directly into the batter for extra fruit in every bite. Swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free blend — the ricotta keeps them moist enough that you won't notice the difference. Add a pinch of vanilla to the batter if you want something a little warmer and more dessert-adjacent.
The Wild Blueberry Balsamic is extraordinary beyond breakfast — drizzle it over vanilla ice cream, stir it into Prosecco, or use it as a glaze for roasted pork. And the Blood Orange Olive Oil makes a remarkable salad dressing with Dijon and white wine vinegar. Come taste both before you commit — we'd love to pour you samples.
Come taste before you buy.
Stop by our Glen Ellyn store — we'd love to pour you a taste of the Blood Orange EVOO and Wild Blueberry Balsamic side by side. Fair warning: you'll want both.
449 N. Main Street, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 · (630) 534-6457
Mon–Fri 10am–5:30pm · Sat 10am–5pm