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Sage and Pancetta Biscuits with Fontina
Difficulty Level Easy
It's funny how purchasing in individual ingredient can cause a bit of a ripple effect through your kitchen for the next week or so. I bought a lot of wild leeks at the farmers' market over the past two weeks and I've been using them in pretty much everything I make. That means I'm looking for all kinds of different ways to use them, just to keep it interesting.
Last week I made some Wild Leek Biscuits and posted the recipe on TreeHugger. That meant that I needed some buttermilk. Nobody in my family likes to drink buttermilk, so now I have to find a use for it. Which leads me to more buttermilk biscuits tis morning. Of course, I still have buttermilk left after two batches of biscuits. Maybe I'll make some buttermilk salad dressing, or a buttermilk based chilled soup.
Of course, I had variations on the rest of the ingredients, so substitutions were in order. I used prosciutto rather than pancetta, so I didn't need to cook it, and I used cheddar cheese rather than fontina. I did, however, have some gorgeous sage from my garden. They turned out beautifully and we had a great breakfast.
This recipe is from Bon Appetit, September, 2005
INGREDIENTS
| 1 3‑ounce | package thinly sliced pancetta, chopped |
| 2 cups | all purpose flour |
| 2 tablespoons | sugar |
| 3 1/2 teaspoons | baking powder |
| 1/2 teaspoon | salt |
| 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) | chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes |
| 1 cup | coarsely grated Fontina cheese |
| 1 tablespoon | chopped fresh sage |
| 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons | chilled buttermilk |
PREPARATION:
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Sauté pancetta in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl to blend. Rub in butter with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Stir in Fontina and sage, separating strands of cheese. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and pancetta with any pan drippings and stir until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead just until dough holds together, about 4 to 6 turns. Flatten dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Using 2 1/4-inch-diameter biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Re-roll dough and cut out more rounds until all dough is used.
- Transfer biscuits to large rimmed ungreased baking sheet. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, about 14 minutes. Serve warm.
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