Recipes

Chosen from Nigel Slater's Tender V1, he writes "A warm scone is an object of extraordinary comfort, but even more so when it has potato in it. The farl, a slim scone of flour, butter and mashed potato, is rarely seen nowadays and somehow all the more of a treat when it is. I have taken the idea and run with it, mashing steamed pumpkin into the hand-worked crumbs of flour and butter to make a bread that glows orange when you break it. Soft, warm and floury, this is more than welcome for a Sunday breakfast in winter or a tea round the kitchen table."

Enough for 4

    300g peeled and seeded pumpkin
    140g plain flour
    1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
    1/2 tsp salt
    70g butter
    An egg, beaten
    90ml warm milk
    2 tsp thyme leaves
    A little oil or butter

Method

Cut the pumpkin into large chunks and steam until tender enough to mash. Set the oven to 200C/Gas 6.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small chunks and rub it in with your fingertips. You could do this ina  food processor, but it hardly seems worth the washing up.

Crush the pumpkin with a potato masher, then beat in the egg, followed by the milk and thyme leaves. Scoop this into the flour mixture and mix well. Season with black pepper.

Warm a heavy, non-stick frying pan with a metal handle over a low to moderate heat. Melt a little oil or butter in it, then pile in the dough and smooth it flat. Leave to cook over a low heat until the underside is pale gold.

Lightly oil a dinner plate. Loosen the underside of the scone with the help of a palette knife. Put the plate over the top of the pan, then, holding the plate in place, tip the pan so the scone falls on the plate. Slide the scone back into the pan and cook the other side for four or five minutes. Put the pan in the oven for seven minutes or until the scone is lightly set in the middle.

Turn the scone out of the pan and slice into thick wedges. Serve warm, with cheese or some grilled bacon.