Since the words of the Torah should be like honey and milk under our tongues, we love to eat dairy dishes on Shavuot, our harvest festival that comes 49 days after Pesach and the celebration of receiving the Torah. This year, it begins on Tuesday evening, May 25.

Interestingly enough, many Jews are lactose intolerant, and many more prefer low-fat diets. In deference to those readers and relatives who have specifically asked for low-fat and dairy-free recipes, I’m including those options to my Aunt Monya’s Blintz recipe.

Aunt Monya’s Blintzes | Makes 2 dozen

For the pancakes:
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt

For the filling:
1 lb. small curd cottage cheese or ricotta
1 egg
1 Tbs. sugar

For the pancakes:

Combine the eggs and milk. Stir in the flour and salt and combine well using a blender, food processor or whisk. Allow the batter to stand for an hour or longer (if more than an hour, store in the refrigerator).

Put the batter into a measuring cup with a good pouring spout. Heat a small pan on top of the stove, add a small amount of butter and when it melts, wipe the pan with a paper towel.

Hold the pan with one hand and with the other pour some batter into the pan. Immediately pour any excess back into the container of batter. Return the pan to the heat and cook the pancake until firm, about a minute. Flip the pancake onto a board or plate.

Continue until all the batter is used. You may refrigerate them at this point, or proceed to fill and bake them.

For the filling:

Mix ingredients together. To fill the blintzes, place a large spoonful of filling in the center of each pancake. Fold over both sides and roll into a rectangular shape. Place the blintzes in a baking dish, dab each one with a little butter and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake uncovered in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes or until warmed through.

Low-Fat Blintzes | Makes 2 dozen

For the pancakes:
2 large eggs
4 egg whites
1 3/4 cups fat-free milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt

For the filling:
1 lb. fat-free ricotta
2 egg whites
1 Tbs. sugar

Mix, fill and bake as above. Combine the eggs, egg whites and milk, and follow mixing directions for Aunt Monya’s Blintzes.

Dairy-Free Blintzes | Makes 2 dozen

For the pancakes:
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt

For the filling:
1 lb. soft tofu, pureed
1 egg
1 Tbs. sugar

Mix and fill as above.

Rebecca Ets-Hokin is a Bay Area cooking teacher and food professional. Her columns alternate with those of Louise Fiszer. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to j. or to [email protected].