A treat just for the foragers amongst you - Wild Garlic & Cheese Scones
We have been kindly given this recipe by Kerry Torrens, a nutritionist, member of the Guild of Food writers and author for BBC Good Food and Olive Magazine
Cheese and Wild Garlic Scones
Delicious straight from the oven, these scones are a great way to celebrate the wild garlic season. Don’t forget the flavour of this much-loved foraged herb is robust, so more often than not, less is most definitely more!
You will need:
140g self-raising flour
140g wholemeal spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g soft butter, cut into small cubes
30g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra for topping (or a vegetarian hard cheese)
10g wild garlic, finely chopped
1 egg (medium)
3 tbsp natural yogurt
3 tbsp milk, plus extra to glaze
How to make:
Heat oven to 190C/ fan 170C/ gas mark 5. Cook for 15-20 minutes - Makes 14-16 scones.
Combine the flours, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl.
Add the cubes of butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the finely grated parmesan and the chopped wild garlic – make sure they are evenly distributed.
Whisk together the egg, yogurt and milk in a jug, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture. Bring the mix together with a table knife to make a soft dough – you can add a little more milk if the mix is dry but not too much that it becomes sticky
Turn out on a floured work surface and roll to about a 3cm thickness. Using an upturned glass or a cutter (about 5-6cm in diameter) cut out your scones, place them on a greased or lined baking sheet. Repeat the process until all of the dough is used. Lightly glaze the scones with milk or an egg wash and sprinkle on some extra grated parmesan.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden and hollow sounding when you lightly tap the base. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition notes: I’ve used parmesan in my cheese scones, this aged cheese has mineral binding properties that makes it an especially useful source of bone-building nutrients.
Whole-meal spelt is a little richer in protein than wheat flour and contributes more zinc.
While the star ingredient is of course the wild garlic, rich in polyphenols and sulphur compounds that support our detox systems, folklore tells us wild garlic is the perfect food to reset the system after a Winter’s hibernation.
Serving ideas: I like to top these scones with a dollop of ricotta and a spoonful of chilli jam.
Kerry Torrens is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and a contributing author to a number of publications including BBC Good Food and Olive magazine. Find her on Instagram at @kerry_torrens_nutrition_