Grape Tomato Biscuits

These grape tomato biscuits are perfect fresh out of the oven as a snack or as a side to a hearty bowl of chili. It takes a while to oven-dry the grape tomatoes, but once you taste the results, you’ll want to bake up a big batch. They’re also excellent as breakfast sandwiches stuffed with sausage and egg.

• 2 cups Grape Tomatoes, washed and sliced in half
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cups cold buttermilk
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

You’ll want to plan ahead if you’re going to be making these scones. You can oven dry the tomatoes the day before, if you do, keep them in the fridge covered and drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

For oven dried tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 225°F. Place the sliced grape tomatoes cut side up on a tray lined with parchment paper.
2. Bake the tomatoes for three hours or until they look shriveled and dried up.
3. Remove and cool before using in the biscuits.

For biscuit

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cut in the cold butter cubes until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat together the egg and buttermilk. Add the liquid to the flour mixture all at once and stir just enough for the dough to come together.
5. Add the cooled tomatoes and ricotta cheese and gently blend into the dough.
6. Place the dough on a floured board and roll or pat into a 1 inch thickness. Cut into biscuits using a 2 inch cookie cutter. Reshape and roll out excess dough to create more biscuits.
7. Place on an parchment paper lined baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.