Pyrenees Style Roasted Figs Recipes

PYRENEES-STYLE ROASTED FIGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Butter a shallow, flameproof baking dish.
• Place figs in dish side by side, stems up; sprinkle with 1/4 c sugar and 1 tablespoon water.
• Bake on oven's center rack for 20 minutes, basting figs from time to time with syrupy juices in the dish.
• Add walnuts and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Lower oven temperature to 300° and bake 10 minutes longer.
• Carefully transfer figs and walnuts to serving dish; drizzle with honey.
• At serving time, spoon syrup over figs.
• They are delicious as is; to enhance further, sprinkle with lemon juice and a grinding of pepper.
• Serve cold with creme fraiche or softly whipped cream, if desired.

ROASTED FIGS WITH FRESH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the figs, cut side up, in a baking dish. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, and whisk in the honey, cinnamon and salt. Drizzle the hot honey butter over the figs and roast in oven until very soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Divide the fresh ricotta or fat free yogurt among 4 serving dishes and top with the warm figs and sauce. Enjoy!
• Cook's Note: These hot figs are really great over mixed greens or even on a toasted baguette as a crostini!

JAMIE'S BAKED FIGS

Steps:

• You should have no problem getting nice figs at Christmas time and they're wonderful to make in so many ways so when you see them, buy them up! Here's one really gorgeous way to have them. I promise you won't get bored of these; there are so many lovely ways of using them up.
• Personally, I like to make a sort of bruschetta with them or put them out on a platter with some nice cheese. As it's Christmas and your kitchen is probably well-stocked, you'll hopefully have the ingredients for the bruschetta on hand already. If not, you can always improvise with whatever you've got in the fridge.
• Preheat your oven to 110ºC/225ºF/gas ¼. Lay your figs, cut-side up, in a baking tray. Using a fine grater, zest your clementines over the figs then dust the figs with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar. My flavoured sugar is also great for this so if you've made a batch of that, feel free to use that instead.
• Pop the figs in the oven to bake for 4 hours, checking on them every hour or so. When they come out of the oven you'll have semi-dehydrated figs, which will be a bit like wine gums.
• Fig bruschetta Get yourself a few slices of nice warm bread, crumble over some lumps of cheese, and a few pieces of walnut then put a few fig halves and a drizzle of runny honey over the top to finish it off. I think the combination of salty goat's cheese with these figs and a bit of honey is absolute heaven.
• Figs in honey You'll be able to put any leftover figs to good use in all sorts of ways. A really nice way of using them at Christmas is to turn them into a bit of a gift by popping a stack of them in a sterilised jar, covering them completely with honey then sealing the jar with an airtight lid. They'll be beautiful as part of a cheese platter, baked in a tart, a sticky toffee pud, or even thrown into a roasting tray with some pork or other meat for a bit of added sweetness. Give them to your mates when you go round to theirs for dinner. They'll love getting something unique, especially when you explain all the different things they can do with them.

ROASTED FIGS AND PROSCIUTTO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Snip the hard stems off the figs and cut the figs in half lengthwise through the stem. With a small sharp knife, cut the prosciutto lengthwise into inch-wide strips. Wrap a strip of prosciutto around the center of each fig half, with the ends overlapping. Brush with olive oil and arrange cut-side up on a sheet pan.
• Roast the figs for 10 minutes, until the prosciutto is a little crisp and the figs are warmed through. Serve warm.