Spinach and Ricotta Scones

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Spinach and Ricotta Scones

A perfect afternoon-tea-nom!

Last week I bought quite a bit of fresh ricotta cheese and I really needed to use it before it turned bad. In the past I've had great results with ricotta in savoury scones so I decided to try and develop some Low GI ones. The use of wholemeal flour and oat bran help lower the glycemic index of these scones, as does the use of ricotta cheese itself - it has a extremely low carb load but lots of protein which helps you feel fuller for longer.

Recipe

Makes 12 scones
Cooking time 30 mins

Ingredients

3 cups wholemeal flour + enough for dusting/cutting
1 cup oat bran
8 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
80 grams butter, cut into small cubes
2 portions of frozen spinach, defrosted and excess moisture removed
330 grams fresh ricotta cheese from the deli
2 tablespoons grated romano pecorino cheese
1 cup or milk (or near enough)

Wholemeal flour plus oat bran = Low GI

Method

Preheat oven to 200C.

Add wholemeal flour, oat bran, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the butter cubes and work into the flour mix with your finger tips, making sure all the butter is rubbed in. The mix should begin to resemble breadcrumbs.

Add the squeezed spinach to the mix in small pieces, tearing it with your fingers. On top of this add the ricotta cheese in large-ish chunks, followed by the grated romano cheese. Mix everything together using a blunt butter knife. Add the milk gradually and mix with the blunt butter knife until no pockets of flour are left in the mix. Be wary of adding too much milk - you want the mix to bind, but not to become too wet. If you don't use the whole cup, that's fine. If you use a little more, that's fine too.

Tip out dough onto a floured surface and gently work into a large circle by shaping the edges with your palms and gently shifting the dough on the board to make sure it doesn't stick. Once you have the edges shaped, press gently and firmly with flat hands on the top of the dough to make it a uniform height. It's really important that you don't press too hard and make them too flat - the end result will be a tough, chewy scone.

When dough is uniform you are ready for cutting. Use a medium scone cutter or free-cut with a blunt knife into squares - whatever works for you.

Place cut scones on a baking tray and bake at 200C for 20 mins. You can tell scones are cooked when you tap on them with a finger and they sound hollow.

Scones can be frozen up to 2 months. If eating them once they've been frozen, defrost in fridge overnight and then refresh them in the microwave for 10 seconds.