Pork Crisps and Ricotta Scones / varkue sa ricottom

As this often happens, our fridge is laden with various odds and ends that I am trying to use up. My general philosophy is that no food should go to waste, hence this somewhat unconventional scone was born. Honestly, these turned out waaay better than I expected and are pretty addictive to munch on. Since I polished off all of the reserves by the time of publishing the recipe, I am thinking of whipping up another batch.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields about 18-20 scones / 0.24 EUR per scone / 4.81 EUR for all)

For the dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour (0.13 EUR)

1 cup whole-wheat flour (0.10 EUR)

1 tsp dry yeast (0.13 EUR)

1 tbsp sugar (0.01 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

1 cup ricotta (1.00 EUR)

cup of water ()

For the filling:

3 cups pork crisps (2.67 EUR)

3 tbsp butter (0.40 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

tsp freshly ground black pepper (0.03 EUR)

For topping:

1 egg (0.20 EUR)

1 tsp cumin seeds (0.07 EUR)

1 tbsp sesame seeds (0.03 EUR)

Pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

Additional:

Flour for dusting (0.01 EUR)

METHOD:

Prepare the dough by whisking together both flours, yeast, sugar and salt. Add in the ricotta and cup of water then stir to combine. Turn the dough out on a work surface and knead for about five minutes until it comes together and is smooth. Gradually add in a bit more water if needed, a tablespoon at a time. The final dough should be firm, but pliable. Once the dough is ready, place it in a bowl, cover with a cling foil and allow to rest in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size.

While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse into a smooth paste. If your pork crisps are already salty, skip the salt (mine were not). Taste and adjust seasoning.

Turn the proofed dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it into a thin square. Smear the about of the pork crisps paste on the dough, then fold in over. Smear the remaining paste and fold over again. Roll the dough out again until 1-2 inches thick, then cut into scones. I opted for square ones because Im lazy, but go ahead and go for round ones if you feel like it. Place the scones on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for about half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Just before baking brush the scones with a beaten egg and sprinkle with cumin, sesame seeds and a bit of salt. Bake for about 20 minutes in the middle rack, until deep golden brown. Serve warm. Allow the extra scones to cool completely before storing them in a fridge in a zip-lock plastic bag. I suggest reheating them again in the oven right before serving.

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Kao to to esto biva, hladnjak nam je zatrpan raznovrsnim ostatcima koje pokuavam iskoristiti. Poto je moja generalna filozofija da se hrana ne smije bacati, tako sam nekako i dola do moda malo nekonvencionalne kombinacije sastojaka u ovim varkuama. Iskreno, ovaj je recept ispao puno punooo bolje nego to sam isprva oekivala i varkue su totalni hit. Poto sam ve u meuvremenu do objave recepta ve potamanila sve zalihe, sada si sve neto mislim kako bih mogla ispei jo jednu rundu.

SASTOJCI:

(Za oko 18-20 varkua / 1,80 kn po varkui / 35,98 kn za sve)

Za tijesto:

2 alice glatkog brana (1,00 kn)

1 alica integralno brana (0,75 kn)

1 liica suhog kvasca (1,00 kn)

1 lica eera (0,10 kn)

1 liica soli (0,01 kn)

1 alica ricotte (7,50 kn)

alice vode ()

Za nadjev:

3 alice varaka (20,00 kn)

3 lice maslaca (3,00 kn)

1 liica soli (0,01 kn)

liice svjee mljevenog crnog papra (0,25 kn)

Za posipanje:

1 jaje (1,50 kn)

1 liica kima (0,50 kn)

1 lica sezama (0,25 kn)

Prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

Dodatno:

Brano za posipanje (0,10 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Tijesto pripremite tako da skupa pomijeate oba brana, kvasac, eer i sol. Dodajte riccotu i alice vode, pa promijeajte da se sjedini. Tijesto iskrenite na istu radnu plohu i mijesite jedno pet minuta dok ne postane glatko. Postepeno u tijesto prema potrebi dodajte jo vode, licu po licu. Gotovo tijesto treba biti vrsto, ali istovremeno i podatno. Kada je tijesto gotovo, stavite ga u posudu koju prekrijte plastinom folijom i pustite da odmara na toplom mjestu sat vremena da se udvostrui.

Dok tijesto odmara pripremite nadjev. Sve sastojke ubacite u multipraktik i sameljite u glatku pastu. Ako su vam varci ve slani, preskoie sol (moji nisu bili). Kuajte i prilagodite zaine.

Nakon to se tijesto dignulo iskrenite ga na dobro pobranjenu radnu plohu te ga razvaljajte u tanku plahtu. Pola nadjeva razmaite po polovici tijesta, preklopite pa premaite ostatkom nadjeva. Opet tijesto preklopite, te ga razvaljajte na debljinu od oko 3-4 centimetra. Izreite u pogaice. Ja sam rezala u kvadratie jer sam ljenina, ali slobodno izreite u krugove ako vam se da. Pogaice rairite po protvanu obloenom papirom za peenje, pokrijte istom krpom i pustite ih da odmaraju jo pola sata.

Zagrijte penicu na 200C. Netom prije peenja varkue premaite razmuenim jajetom, pa posipajte kimom, sezamom i solju. Pecite 20-tak minuta u sredini penice, dok varkue ne budu lijepe zlatno-smee boje. Posluite tople. Sve varkue koje vam ostanu ostavite da se do kraja ohlade, pa ih uvajte dobro umotane u plastinoj vreici u hladnjaku. Ja vam svakako savjetujem da ih netom prije posluivanja ponovo kratko ugrijete u penici.