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)

¼ – ½ 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)

½ 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 ¼ 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 ½ 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 I’m 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 200°C. 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 što to često biva, hladnjak nam je zatrpan raznovrsnim ostatcima koje pokušavam iskoristiti. Pošto je moja generalna filozofija da se hrana ne smije bacati, tako sam nekako i došla do možda malo nekonvencionalne kombinacije sastojaka u ovim čvarkušama. Iskreno, ovaj je recept ispao puno punooo bolje nego što sam isprva očekivala i čvarkuše su totalni hit. Pošto sam već u međuvremenu do objave recepta već potamanila sve zalihe, sada si sve nešto mislim kako bih mogla ispeći još jednu rundu.

SASTOJCI:

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

Za tijesto:

2 šalice glatkog brašna (1,00 kn)

1 šalica integralno brašna (0,75 kn)

1 žličica suhog kvasca (1,00 kn)

1 žlica šećera (0,10 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

1 šalica ricotte (7,50 kn)

¼ – ½ šalice vode (–)

Za nadjev:

3 šalice čvaraka (20,00 kn)

3 žlice maslaca (3,00 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

½ žličice svježe mljevenog crnog papra (0,25 kn)

Za posipanje:

1 jaje (1,50 kn)

1 žličica kima (0,50 kn)

1 žlica sezama (0,25 kn)

Prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

Dodatno:

Brašno za posipanje (0,10 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Tijesto pripremite tako da skupa pomiješate oba brašna, kvasac, šećer i sol. Dodajte riccotu i ¼ šalice vode, pa promiješajte da se sjedini. Tijesto iskrenite na čistu radnu plohu i mijesite jedno pet minuta dok ne postane glatko. Postepeno u tijesto prema potrebi dodajte još vode, žlicu po žlicu. Gotovo tijesto treba biti čvrsto, ali istovremeno i podatno. Kada je tijesto gotovo, stavite ga u posudu koju prekrijte plastičnom folijom i pustite da odmara na toplom mjestu sat vremena da se udvostruči.

Dok tijesto odmara pripremite nadjev. Sve sastojke ubacite u multipraktik i sameljite u glatku pastu. Ako su vam čvarci već slani, preskočie sol (moji nisu bili). Kušajte i prilagodite začine.

Nakon što se tijesto dignulo iskrenite ga na dobro pobrašnjenu radnu plohu te ga razvaljajte u tanku plahtu. Pola nadjeva razmažite po polovici tijesta, preklopite pa premažite ostatkom nadjeva. Opet tijesto preklopite, te ga razvaljajte na debljinu od oko 3-4 centimetra. Izrežite u pogačice. Ja sam rezala u kvadratiće jer sam ljenčina, ali slobodno izrežite u krugove ako vam se da. Pogačice raširite po protvanu obloženom papirom za pečenje, pokrijte čistom krpom i pustite ih da odmaraju još pola sata.

Zagrijte pećnicu na 200°C. Netom prije pečenja čvarkuše premažite razmućenim jajetom, pa posipajte kimom, sezamom i solju. Pecite 20-tak minuta u sredini pećnice, dok čvarkuše ne budu lijepe zlatno-smeđe boje. Poslužite tople. Sve čvarkuše koje vam ostanu ostavite da se do kraja ohlade, pa ih čuvajte dobro umotane u plastičnoj vrećici u hladnjaku. Ja vam svakako savjetujem da ih netom prije posluživanja ponovo kratko ugrijete u pećnici.