Mini watercress and Cheddar scones

I have baked these watercress and cheddar scones a few times for parties or work and they have always been pretty popular. They are very easy to make, which is a plus when baking for a larger crowd. I like to make them smaller in size so that they are just bite-sized and also easier to eat. I personally think that they taste better the day after the baking. I would normally always want to eat everything fresh from the oven, but the flavours really come together in these when they have rested for a while.

This recipe makes about 16 small scones.

Ingredients

200 g watercress

225 g self raising flour

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

55 g butter

50 g mature Cheddar cheese

150 ml milk

Method

Remove the larger stalks from the watercress and coarsely chop them into a little bit smaller pieces.

Mix the flour, salt and cayenne pepper, and rub in the butter. Add the cheese, milk and watercress and knead only lightly into an even dough.

Spread the dough about 2 cm thick on a surface and cut scones from it with a small round cookie cutter. Brush the tops of the individual scones with a little milk and sprinkle some additional cheese on them.

Place the scones on baking paper and bake them for about 15 minutes at 220C until the tops are golden brown. And they are already done! You can either enjoy them fresh or the next day.

Your VegHog

Watercress rolls

Watercress is in season at the moment and I like adding it to salads, but now I made something slightly different with it. I baked spelt rolls with added watercress and they turned out to be quite good. I spontaneously invented this recipe, as I wanted to eat some rolls and at the same didn't want the excess watercress go to waste.

I also want to share this recipe with the Eat Your Greens vegetarian cooking challenge involving green vegetables. This challenge is hosted by Shaheen from the A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table and I thought that a watercress recipe could be a suitable one for April. 

Here is how I made my Watercress rolls:

Ingredients

250 g spelt flour

1 tbsp dry yeast

100 g spelt flakes

200 ml lukewarm water

1 tbsp olive oil

60 g watercress

Poppy seeds for the top

Method

Soak the spelt flakes in the lukewarm water for a couple of minutes.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Add the water with the spelt flakes to the dry ingredients.

Mix and knead to an even dough and also add the olive oil.

Then add the watercress (larger stalks removed).

Knead some more and let the dough rise in a bowl covered with a tea towel for about one hour.

Shape rolls of the dough and sprinkle some poppy seeds on the top.

Bake them at 220C for about 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

The rolls are at their best when fresh, but can still be consumed a day or two after the baking.

Your VegHog

Tasty summer breads

Light, fresh food is the best thing to have in the summer, and even better if you can get tasty local vegetables. As mentioned before, I often like to have just a bread lunch or dinner with vegetables and possibly cheese. I'm not always up for baking my own bread, especially in the heat, but then a nice artisan bread from the bakery is just right. I added my watercress pesto (recipe here) on these breads to bring an extra punch and freshness.

These are the ingredients I used today.

1 loaf of olive bread

150 g char-grilled pepper antipasti

200 g red & gold santini tomatoes

250 g mozzarella

Watercress pesto

Basil leaves

Sea salt

Ground black pepper

Simple instructions for a simple dish.

Slice the bread and the tomatoes. Spread some watercress pesto on the breads. You can replace this by a regular pesto or a basil and olive oil drizzle.

Then place the tomatoes and the antipasti on the bread slices, and tear the mozzarella on the top. When mozzarella is torn it releases less of its liquid, and I tend to prefer this method these days.

Sprinkle basil leaves, salt and pepper on the top and the breads are done.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Watercress pesto

Here's a quick recipe now to have a break of all the holiday posts, this is mainly a food blog after all! This is a lovely green summer recipe.

A watercress pesto is fresh and punchy and a perfect company for a light summer pasta. It's so easy and quick to make, so there are really no excuses for not making it. These are the ingredients that I just puréed together and stirred into a pasta dish.

100 g watercress

50 g pistachios

1 garlic clove

25 g vegetarian pasta cheese

4-8 tbsp olive oil

Mix the pesto into pasta or spread it on crusty breads and enjoy with fresh vegetables.

Your VegHog

Ottolenghi: W is for watercress

Has anyone read the recent article “Yotam Ottolenghi's A to Z of summer veg, with recipes to match” in the Guardian? It is a very inspiring one, yet not all recipes are fully vegetarian. 

I adore Ottolenghi's vegetarian recipes anyway, and now I found a new favourite among his creations. This recipe in the section W is for watercress instantly caught my eye, and I tried to cook it. The recipe is for a great salad: Roasted courgette with watercress, pistachios and parmesan (vegetarian pasta cheese in my version). I think that the spicy watercress is a really good combination with the mild courgette, and lemon goes with both. The vibrant pesto style watercress paste is also gorgeous. I can see myself eating it with pasta or new potatoes as well.

Here you can read my version of the recipe, although it's quite close to Ottolenghi's. I used baby courgettes as I could get some local ones and they look so cute.

Ingredients

400 g baby courgettes

75 ml olive oil

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

100 g watercress

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

50 g pistachios

50 g vegetarian pasta cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

Method

Cut the baby courgettes into halves and place them on a roasting tin. Sprinkle two tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper on the top and shake lightly. Bake at 220C for about 15-20 minutes so that the courgettes have roasted flavour and brown roasting marks, but still have a certain bite to them. Turn them occasionally during the roasting and allow them cool afterwards.

Purée the rest of the olive oil with the garlic, lemon zest and 2/3 of the watercress into a smooth paste and pour it on the cooled courgettes.

Chop the pistachios roughly and roast them in the oven.

Combine all ingredients and add the rest of the watercress to the salad.

Make shavings of vegetarian pasta cheese and squeeze the lemon juice on the top.

The salad is now ready to be served.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Lentil and watercress salad

I'm still keeping the French theme up, as I again got some inspiration from The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoulier, and today's recipe will be the tasty Crunchy lentil and watercress salad – Salade croquante de lentilles et cresson (Please also have a look here at my take on Clotilde's other salad recipe). 

I cut a couple of corners here, impatient as I am, but the salad ended up being a nice fresh, crunchy and spicy spring salad. This recipe makes enough salad for four people, as the ingredients are quite filling.

Ingredients

Salad:

1 cup green dried lentils

1 shallot

1 bay leaf

200g radishes

200g watercress

8 fresh mint leaves

20g fresh chives

Dressing:

2tbsp olive oil

1tbsp cider vinegar

1tsp honey

1tsp ground mustard seeds

Ground black pepper

Sea salt

Method

Rinse and cook the lentils in water with the bay leaf and finely chopped shallot for about 20 minutes until tender. Remove the water and let the lentils cool.

Chop the radishes into small cubes, and also chop the mint and chives finely.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and add it to the salad just before serving.

Combine all the components and serve the salad cool.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Watercress and cheddar scones

These hearty and savoury watercress and cheddar scones are a wonderful addition to any Christmas party. They are easy to bake, but are a bit more unusual snack.

I got this recipe from the British watercress web page, but I have slightly amended their original recipe. Here's how I made them.

Ingredients

Makes about 8 scones.

100g watercress

200ml buttermilk

225g flour

2tsp baking powder

50g butter

75g mature cheddar

1tsp salt

½tsp cayenne pepper

Method

Remove any thicker stems from the watercress and chop it small. Grate the cheddar. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and rub the soft butter in. Add the watercress and the grated cheese to the mix, also mix the buttermilk in. Save little buttermilk for later. Season with the cayenne pepper. Mix the ingredients into an even dough.

Place the dough into muffin cases, about 2cm high. Brush the surfaces with buttermilk and sprinkle little cheddar on the top.

Bake the scones at 220C for about 20-25 minutes until baked throughout. You can poke a cocktail stick in to test that the scones are fully baked.

Let cool slightly, but these are best to be enjoyed warm.

Stay hungry!

Your VegHog