Butternut squash scones with goats’ cheese

Scones may be synonymous with English tea but they’re just as good for breakfast. The squash adds colour to these scones as well as keeping their texture moist and light. Steam rather than boil the squash before using and, once cooked, leave it to dry in its own heat before grating it into the dough mixture. Serve the scones with a generous filling of goats’ cheese – I’ve opted for a relatively mild, creamy one.

Makes 8–10

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

225g self-raising/self-rising flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp dried thyme

140g cooked, cooled and peeled

Butternut squash, coarsely grated

3 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tbsp milk, plus extra for brushing

mild, creamy goats’ cheese, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and grease and flour a baking sheet. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in two-thirds of the thyme.

2. Mix together the squash, yogurt and milk, then gently stir the mixture into the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon, then gather the dough together into a ball.

3. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, pat out to a 2cm/¾in thick round and score into 8 wedges. (Alternatively, use a 5cm/2in cutter to stamp out rounds. Lightly knead together any remnants of dough and stamp out more scones to make 10 in total.) Place on the prepared baking sheet.

4. Brush the top of the scones with a little extra milk and sprinkle with the remaining thyme. Bake for 10–12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack, then serve spread with a generous layer of goats’ cheese.

PART-TIME VARIATION: Sweet scones

Stir 1 heaped tbsp caster/granulated sugar into the dry ingredients instead of the thyme and increase the quantity of milk to 100ml in place of the butternut squash.

The Part-Time Vegetarian by Nicola Graimes © Nourish Books 2015

Photograph: Haarala Hamilton