In celebration of the very important Jewish holiday of Hanukkah I am giving you you my recipe for Cheese Latkes. Latkes are a traditional Jewish food served during both Hanukkah and Passover. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy them. I would note that most recipes for Latkes are synonymous with potato pancakes and are pretty darn high carb. It is my position that since potatoes are a new world food, truly traditional latkes must be made from cheese. My recipe is is based on one from Tory Avey.
Brian’s Low Carb Cheese Latkes
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
4 eggs
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter and/or vegetable oil for frying (I clarify the butter and use a butter/oil mixture)
Mix cheese, eggs, flour, melted butter, sugar and vanilla in a food processor
In a heavy griddle, heat oil (or butter) and cook the latkes similar to how you would cook pancakes, usually about 4-5 minutes
The estimated carb content for the entire batch is 85g, about 35g of which comes from the flour. You could readily substitute for the flour and get it even lower, but as written, this ends up with about 10g carbs for 2-3 latkes. Also, you could substitute for the sugar, but actually I found that the sugar made a big difference in how well the latkes fried, becoming caramelized and forming a crispy crust, hence I keep the sugar. If you really want low carb, substitute almond meal for the flour and splenda for the sugar.
Early Chag Sameach