Tony Denison's French Toast Italia Style Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients to Serve 4 People:

• Loaf of Italian bread (Tony recommends Rustica Italian loaf of bread and says to get the nice Italian bread to make the bigger pieces.)
• ½ teaspoon of Almond Extract
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• 8 tablespoons Sicilian-style sweet Ricotta Cheese- usually found in Italian Deli/Bakery
• 6 eggs
• ¼ to ½ cup of whole milk
• Sprinkle of Nutmeg to taste
• Sprinkle of Cinnamon to taste
• 8 Strawberries
• 2 Bananas
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Maple Syrup

Before you Cook:

1. Slice your loaf of bread into ½ inch thick slices.
2. Coat your frying pan with 2 tablespoons of butter.
3. Slice strawberries and bananas.

To Make the French Toast:

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the 6 eggs while adding whole milk until the eggs are liquefied (about ¼ to ½ a cup in total without making it too milky)
2. Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
3. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
4. Mix together.
5. Shake nutmeg on top until the entire top is covered, then whisk.
6. Soak both sides of the slices of bread in the mixture. As you take each slice of bread out, sprinkle cinnamon on the side that will be in the frying pan.
7. Keep flipping the slices in the frying pan over so they don't get too "eggy" and continue to sprinkle cinnamon until golden brown.
8. When the slices are golden brown, take them out of the frying pan and add a dusting of powdered sugar on both sides.9. Repeat steps 6-8 for each slice of bread.
9. Spread 1 tablespoon of Ricotta over each slice of bread and place two together to create a "sandwich."

Catch Tony on "Major Crimes," Mondays at 9/8c on TNT.

And make sure you follow Tony on Twitter @realtonydenison.