Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set it aside.
In a separate larger bowl, combine the ricotta, milk, egg yolks and vanilla essence. Then add the dry ingredients into the ricotta and milk mixture, stirring gently until just combined.
In a mixing bowl beat the egg whites with a handheld electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir a small amount of the egg whites into the pancake batter to loosen it up, then gently fold in the remaining whipped egg whites with a spatula. The mixture will be thicker than normal pancake batter.
Use a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Melt a small knob of butter in the pan, enough to coat the surface. Using an ice-cream scoop or a big tablespoon, spoon some batter into the heated pan. You can use the back of the spoon to gently spread it out.
Cook the pancakes for about a minute or until a few bubbles appear on the edges (not the middle) and it is golden underneath. Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute, until golden. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.
Serve the pancakes immediately with either syrup, icing sugar or whipped cream and strawberries.
