Dill scones with smoked salmon & cucumber relish

Low-calorie lunch recipe for 4 - 8 people, takes only 15 mins; recipe has plain flour, plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, dill, unsalted butter, milk, poppy seed, smoked salmon, caster sugar, rice wine vinegar, cucumber, red onion and red chilli.

Dill scones with smoked salmon & cucumber relish

Dill scones with smoked salmon & cucumber relish

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Low-calorie lunch
Servings

4 - 8

servings
Prep time

30 mins

Ingredients

  • Red Chilli: 1 mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
  • Red Onion: half red onion, very thinly sliced
  • Milk: 300ml milk, warmed, plus extra for brushing
  • Dill: 20g pack dill, half finely chopped
  • Cucumber: 1 large cucumber, peeled
  • Smoked Salmon: 200g pack smoked salmon slices and 300g pack soft cheese, to serve
  • Caster Sugar: 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • Plain Flour: 200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • Bicarbonate Of Soda: 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Unsalted Butter: 50g unsalted butter, very cold and cut into cubes
  • Poppy Seed: 1 tsp poppy seeds
  • Rice Wine Vinegar: 100ml rice wine vinegar

Directions

  1. For the scones, heat oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8 and lightly flour a baking sheet. Mix the flours, bicarb, chopped dill and 1 tsp fine salt in a large bowl, then rub in the butter until it disappears. Tip in the milk and stir briefly to a sticky dough.
  2. Scrape the dough onto a floured surface, dust the dough and your hands with more flour, then fold the dough over 2-3 times to smooth a little. Pat into a 4cm-deep round. Use a 7cm cutter to stamp out scones (see tip, below). Press trimmings together and repeat. Brush with milk, scatter with poppy seeds, then bake for 15-18 mins or until golden and well risen. Cool on a rack. As with all scones, these are best eaten on the day.
  3. For the pickle, stir sugar into vinegar until dissolved. Halve and deseed the cucumber, slice thickly, then toss with the vinegar, onion and chilli. Leave for at least 15 mins in the fridge. Can be made up to 24 hrs ahead. When ready to serve, tear remaining dill over the relish. Split scones, spread with soft cheese and top with a ribbon of salmon and a little relish.