Savory Smoked Tomato-Asiago Scones
My friends Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle, owners of Boggy Creek Farm in Austin, sell the most fabulous smoked tomatoes. I’ve used them to enhance meat dishes and salads. But I’d never tried them in a bread or scone, so I came up with this recipe to showcase them. As soon as the first fragrant scone came out of the oven, I knew I’d be delighted with the result. I even devised a way to use the day-old scones to stuff my Three Pigs pork tenderloin (page 33). As much as I love Larry’s smoked tomatoes, I must admit the scones are delicious made with any high-quality sun dried tomatoes.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 25 small scones
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the pine nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until golden, about 5 minutes; set aside. (Keep checking; they burn easily.)
Step 2
In a bowl, stir together the tomatoes and the roasted garlic, making sure the garlic breaks up and is evenly distributed.
Step 3
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Gradually cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles small peas. Stir in the tomato garlic mixture, pine nuts, grated cheese, green onions, cream, and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk. Using your hands, mix all the ingredients until they are incorporated. If the dough is too dry to hold together, add more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is pliable and can be formed into a ball. Mix as lightly as possible to ensure a light-textured scone.
Step 4
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a rectangle. Using a well floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 3/4 inch thick. With a sharp knife, halve the dough lengthwise into 2 long, rectangular pieces. Cut each piece into 2-inch rectangles, then halve each rectangle on the diagonal to make small scones. Bake on an greased baking sheet until the scones are golden and no longer sticky, about 15 minutes.
