Claire Thomson’s Roasted Shallot Scones with Whipped Ricotta and Isle of Wight Tomato Chilli Jam
Ingredients
Serves: 6
For the Jam:
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
1.5kg Isle of Wight tomatoes
1.5kg granulated sugar
1 large bramley apple, peeled and diced
1 fresh red chilli, optional
2 cardamon pods
Juice of 1 large lemon
For the scones, makes 6 scones:
Preparation time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
300g shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste
450g self-raising flour, plus extra to dust
115g unsalted butter
180ml full fat milk, and a splash more if needed
1 egg, beaten
To serve:
250g ricotta
Method
How to make the jam:
Sterilise the jars. Wash in very hot water or on the hot cycle of a dishwasher. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the jars upside down on a baking tray and dry in the oven for 10 minutes.
Have a big pan of water boiling. Slash the skin of each tomato and plunge into the boiling water for 10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Work in batches until all the tomatoes have been blanched. Leave to cool slightly. The skins should now slip off easily. Peel all of the tomatoes.
Roughly chop all the tomatoes and place in a deep pan suitable for making jam. Add the sugar and apple and mix well. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Add the chilli, sliced in half, if using, and the cardamon pods. Add the juice of the lemon.
Put the pan on the heat and bring to a rapid boil. Be careful as the mixture will be very, very hot. Boil the mixture until it reaches 105°C on a digital thermometer. Alternatively, put a plate in the freezer when you begin the jam making process and when the bubbles on the jam begin to appear fatter and more viscous, anytime from around 20 minutes of boiling, test a spoon of jam on the cold plate, if it is ready, it should thicken instantly and have a slight skin to the top if you push it with your finger. A digital thermometer is best though. Boil the jam hard for 2 minutes when you get to 105°C for a perfect set.
Remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour the jam into the sterilized jars. Remove the chillies and cardamon pods, or if you like keep them in, and then seal the jars shut. Sealed and stored correctly, the jam should last indefinitely.
How to make the scones:
To make the scones, roast the shallots on a tray with the olive oil and big pinch of salt in a preheated fan assisted oven at 180°C for around 20 - 30 mins until very soft and beginning to brown in places. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Turn the oven up to 210°C fan assisted.
Next put the flour and butter in a mixing bowl and using your fingers rub the mixture together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively use a food processor in short, sharp bursts.
Mix the milk and egg together in a bowl.
Make a well in the flour mixture and add all but 3tbsp of the milk and egg mixture. Use a fork to quickly bring the mixture together into a rough, scraggy dough. Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly to form a cohesive dough. Use a splash more milk, if you need to. Flatten the dough out with your hands, or use a rolling pin, about 5cm thick. Use a 7cm round cutter and press out the scones. The last scone will always be a bit scrappy due to it being a mix of off-cuts.
Using a pastry brush and the remaining 3 tbsp of milk and egg paint the surface of the scones and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
Bake the scones in the oven for 16 – 18 minutes until crisp and turning golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool a little on a wire rack.
Whip the ricotta. Using an electric mixer, beat the ricotta for 1 minute until light and airy.
To serve, halve the scone adding whipped ricotta then jam, alternatively halve the scone adding jam then whipped ricotta – up to you!
Credit: Claire Thomson and thetomatostall.co.uk / @iowtomatoes