Pumpkin, cheese and rosemary scones

Deliciously savoury and gorgeously light in texture, these scones are great served with a big bowl of soup. You can use any squash instead of pumpkin and if you fancy, add lardons of crispy bacon or diced chorizo into the mix.

Makes 9

Preheat the oven to 200’C.

Cut the pumpkin into chunks 1-2cms in size and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle with the olive oil and roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, until completely tender. Tip the pumpkin into a bowl (leaving the oven on) and mash very well with a fork or blend in a food processor, then allow to cool. If you’re using canned pumpkin purée, you’ll need 125g.

Sift the flour, baking powder and the cayenne into a bowl and add in the rosemary, salt and all but 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese, reserving the remaining cheese for scattering over the scones before they go in the oven.

Whisk the egg and mix with the pumpkin purée and the milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients then with your hand in a claw position, mix the two together ensuring not to knead the mixture but just mix until it comes together.

Tip the mixture out onto a floured worktop and tidy the sides, working it into a square or something similar , patting the dough to 2 cms thick. Now brush a little milk over the top and scatter the remaining cheese to cover, then cut the dough into 3×3, 9 scones. Place them in a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through. They’ll sound hollow when tapped on the base when cooked.

Cool on a wire rack.