All About Figs-MainPhoto

All-About-Figs-Photo2
DAILY MENU IDEAS
For Breakfast:
Serve them fresh (halved, stemmed) over toasted, warm, bread with fresh ricotta, farmer’s cheese or mascarpone and honey. Or just serve them with plain Greek yogurt, some blueberries, and crunchy raw sugar sprinkled on top. You can also make some fig jam using fresh (stemmed) figs, sugar and lemon. Serve it with warm biscuits or buttery scones.

Starters: Cooking with figs doesn’t get better than oven-roasted figs wrapped in prosciutto or pancetta, filled with manchego, blue cheese, gorgonzola or goat cheese. Drizzle with honey or with a maple balsamic reduction. You may use fresh herbs like thyme or sage. They both pair wonderfully with figs.

For Salads: Brown Turkey figs go very well in salads. Use them fresh, bake them or saute them to caramelize them and serve over greens (cold or warm) with toasted walnuts or pecans and, of course, some nice aged balsamic.

You can also broil them, saute them or grill them. Just brush them with some olive oil, and cook them for a couple of minutes.

For Lunch: Savory tarts make a delightful light lunch or anytime brunch or quick dinner. You can even prepare ahead of time, freeze it and use when needed. Just think figs, caramelized onions, basil, sage, thyme, goat, feta cheese, gorgonzola or blue cheese.

Want to go beyond cooking with figs and add them in your sandwiches and panini? Pickle them! You’ll have a great balance of sweet and salty, just add some prosciutto or jamón serrano, ricotta or mozzarella either on focaccia or country bread.

For a Snack: Serve them halved with soft goat cheese pressed on top, crushed pistachios, honey or syrupy balsamic. Devour!

Pizza: Homemade, frozen or even gluten free crust works well. Top with mozzarella, Asiago, blue cheese or gorgonzola, prosciutto, figs, sage and basil. Serve with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for drizzling.

For Dessert: Saute them in butter, deglaze the pan with rum, add some spices and sugar, and serve over your favorite ice cream or with some fresh whipped cream.

When cooking with figs you can’t forget they also make great pies and tarts, both sweet and savory. If you are looking for a quick, easy one, go for a warm fig crumble pie and serve it with lavender-honey ice cream. Yet there is one tart I can’t keep myself away from: the irresistible frangipane fig tart.