Fig Tart With Pistachio Frangipane

Fig tart with pistachio frangipane

Delicious tart with buttery crust, delicate pistachio frangipane cream and juicy figs.

Ingredients

pastry crust:
1⅓ cup (175g/6.2-oz) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
½ cup (115g/4oz) cold butter
¼ cup (30g/1-oz) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cold water
pistachio cream (frangipane):

1 cup (100g/3.5-oz) ground pistachios
⅓ cup (75g/2.6-oz) soft butter
½ cup (100g/3.5-oz) granulated sugar
grated zest of 1/4 lemon optional
1 large egg
additionally:

4-5 figs cut into 8 wedges

Directions:

Crust:  If the butter is cold, you have to beat it first to soften it a bit, then add the sugar and beat together).

Add the egg, mix well, then add the ground pistachios, lemon zest if using and mix well until combined.
Put the cream in the fridge.

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 190 °C / 375 °F 
Prepare a 23 cm / 9-inch tart pan.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll out the dough until it's large enough to fit into the tart pan (on a sheet of baking paper), transfer the dough to the pan, press it into the corners (the dough should cover the bottom and ca. 2.5 cm / 1-inch of the sides of the pan), cut off any excess dough. You can also press the dough with your hands into an even layer on the bottom and the sides of the pan with your hands, without rolling it out. Put in the fridge while the oven warms up.
Blind-bake the dough: prick the dough with a fork, line with a sheet of baking paper, and fill to the top with dry beans / rice (or ceramic baking weights), pressing them into the corners and sides.
Bake the pastry crust for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and the beans and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the crust is lightly golden.
Spread the frangipane cream evenly on the dough, arrange the fig wedges on top, press them lightly into the cream.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the frangipane is set (you can shake the tart pan, it shouldn‘t jiggle in the center). Check on the tart after about 20 minutes, if the cream is browning too quickly you can cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
Cool the tart slightly, cut into portions and serve, you can sprinkle it with chopped pistachios.
Enjoy!   Serves 8

Notes

You can use other nuts instead of pistachios, for example, ground almonds or hazelnuts.
1 cup loosely packed ground pistachios = 100g/3.5 oz = 7/8 cup shelled whole pistachios = 200g/7oz pistachios in shells.

Cooking Fig Leaf Grilled Fish

Fig Bruschetta

Fig Bruschetta

Yield 3-4 servings
Total time 45 minutes

The addition of the fig compote on the bruschetta adds another layer of wonderful fig flavor and texture. But if you don't have time to make the fig compote, plenty of fresh, sweet figs on top will be equally delicious.

Ingredients:
For the roasted fig puree recipe:
1/2 pound (225g) ripe figs
2 Tablespoons (30ml) balsamic vinegar, divided
1 Tablespoon (15g) brown sugar 

For the Fig Bruschetta assembly!
Crusty bread loaf or baguette, 
     sliced thin or grilled (optional)
Olive Oil for brushing the bread, if you are serving it 
     grilled
5-6 ripe figs, quartered
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Fresh thyme leaves

Directions:
Roasted fig puree directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Slice the tough stems off of the figs then slice the figs into quarters. Place the figs in a baking dish and toss with one Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. 

Cover the baking dish with foil and roast for 15-20 minutes or until the figs are soft.

When cool enough to handle, puree the figs in a food processor or blender with the remaining tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (feel free to add more balsamic to taste). Put puree in a bowl and place in fridge to cool until ready to use

Bruschetta directions:
If you are grilling the bread: heat the grill and lightly brush each sides of sliced bread with olive oil. Grill each side of the bread till crisp.
Spread ricotta cheese over each slice of bread.
Top each bread slice with fig puree, pecans, fresh figs and fresh thyme leaves.

Serve on a platter or wood cutting board as the perfect appetizer.

Italian Fig Conserve ~ Fig Jam

Italian Fig Conserve

3 lbs. firm Black Mission Figs

Freshly squeezed juice of two lemons

6 cups sugar

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)

Yield: 1 quart conserve.

Wipe the figs and chop in small pieces.  Put in a small pan with the lemon juice and 1 cup water.  Cook over low heat until soft - this may take about 20 - 30 minutes, but if the skins are not cooked until tender at this stage they will be tough when cooked with the sugar.  Add the sugar and cook over low heat until dissolved.   Stir in vanilla, increase the heat until the setting point is reached, about 5 to 10 minutes longer.

If the jam is not ready put the pan back on the heat and boil a few minutes longer and test again.  If necessary repeat this process again but remember to take the the pan off the heat while testing because over boiling it will ruin the jam.

When setting point has been reached, skim with a perforated skimmer, stir well and let stand for 20 minutes.  Stir and ladle into sterilized jars.  Store in a dark cool place.   Yield: about 1 quart.

Fig Tart With Caramelized Onion And Pine Nuts

Fig Tart With Caramelized 

Onion And Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions (1 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 sprig rosemary, more for garnish
Pinch sugar
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
¼ cup milk
1 egg
Flour for dusting
¾ pound prepared puff pastry
1 pint fresh figs (3/4 pound), stemmed and cut in half lengthwise
1 ½ ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 6 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Good-quality honeyfor drizzling, optional

*

Directions:

In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter with oil. Add onions, rosemary and sugar. Cook, tossing occasionally, until onions are limp and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, scraping any browned bits from bottom of pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg until smooth. Stir in the onions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Transfer to baking sheet.

Use a fork to spread onion mixture evenly over pastry (let excess egg mixture drip back into bowl), leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange figs, cut-side up, in even rows on onion mixture. Scatter cheese and pine nuts over figs. Use a pastry brush to dab edges of tart with egg mixture. Gently fold over edges of tart to form a lip and brush with more egg mixture.

Bake until pastry is puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with rosemary needles and drizzled with honey, if desired, warm or at room temperature.

Grilled Fig Sandwiches With Roasted Pistachio Pesto And Balsamic Caramelized Onions

Grilled Fig Sandwiches With Roasted  Pistachio Pesto And Balsamic Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:

Figs:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups fresh mission figs, stemmed and halved

*

Roasted Pistachio Pesto

3/4 cup pistachio, toasted

1/2 cup packed fresh basil

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or nut oil 

   such as walnut or pistachio

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

*

Balsamic Caramelized Onion

1 tablespoon high heat oils such as safflower

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

*

Directions:

To make the figs:

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the figs and toss thoroughly to coat the fig surfaces.  Set aside at room temperature while you prepare the other sandwich ingredients.

To make the pesto:

Combine the pistachios, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper,  and 1/4 cup water in a food processor.  Process them to a course paste.  Season with additional salt and pepper.  Set aside at room temperature.

To make the onion;

Heat the high heat oil in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Add the onion and vinegar and cook for 5 minutes, string frequently.  Add the sugar anad season with salt anad pepper.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and caramelizes, 15 to 20 minutes.  Set aside at room temperature.  Set aside at room temperature.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Place the baguette cut side up directly on the oven rack.  Toast until golden, about 5 minutes.    

Joyce's Fig Sauce

Joyce's Fig Sauce

Saturday I went grocery shopping with our daughter-in-law in Redwood City, CA. A tradition in many California Food Stores is to provide samples of seasonal items or new products. As we passed the cheese counter, we noticed a block of Blue Cheese with Fig Sauce set out for sampling. As we stopped to sample we met a most delightful lady and of course we struck up conversation. She shared she made a fig sauce which was much better than the commercial sauce offered. I am sure you have guessed the conversation continued. Actually the conversation didn't end briefly but not until we had exchanged email addresses and she had the blog information.

***

Today I was thrilled to receive an email from Joyce. Joyce sent the recipe for her fig sauce. To make it more special is the fact that Joyce created this recipe. It does not use pectin to make it firm like preserves so we call it sauce. Lucky for those who have a fig tee or for those who have a friend with a fig tree. Lucky is the person who meets Joyce and has a new friend ... that is me!

***

JOYCE'S FIG SAUCE

Joyce uses the Tupperware 8 cup measuring pitcher:

Ingredients:

8 heaping cups of figs mounded even

6 cups sugar (using same measuring pitcher)

6 lemons squeezed, adding juice and pulp

***

Directions:

Joyce combines the three ingredients and brings it slowly to a boil, cooking it for about one hour then turning it down and lets it simmer. 

Remember cooking it longer does not make it thicker. It does not include pectin. It is called sauce, not preserves.

Roasted Fig And Walnut Tart ..... "Oh Bring Us Some Figgy Pu" .. Make it Tart!

Roasted Fig And Walnut Tart

My mother believed in the medicinal benefits of eating figs. She often purchased Fig Newtons at the A and P Store. I grew up liking the bar cookies. On one of my first trips to Milano, our son-in-law Silvano treated me to fresh figs and prosciutto. That was a delightful treat. As you can tell I do enjoy figs. Several years ago, I read a book written by a distant cousin on the genealogy of my paternal grandfather's lineage. One of my granddad's great aunts was a cook for Queen Victoria as the family originated in London. I have wondered what capacity she served. Was she the pastry chef who prepared the Queen's High Tea with sandwiches and crumpets? The author wrote the family had the queen's recipe for the either Plum Pudding or the Figgy Pudding from the kitchen of Queen Victoria. I read this several years ago so I can't recall just which it was. I sometime later telephoned the late author to learn if she knew of anyone who might have that recipe. The author was 94 at that time and in a Nursing Home living in the assisted living area. She was unable to know if the recipe survived the years and generations. Good try on my part!!! This recipe is as close as I will come to Figgy Pudding. The Mission Fig which is black grows so abundantly here in California? Oh, are they sweet and juicy!

***

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup icing sugar

pinch salt

1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Tablespoons cold water

1 large egg yolk

***

Filling:

2/3 cup walnuts

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon flour

12 to 15 large black figs

1/4 cup apricot jam

***

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl or a food processor, add butter and cut or pulse in in until it resembles small peas. Beat water and egg yolk together until uniform and add just enough to bring the pastry together into a ball (it may be slightly more or less liquid depending on the level of humidity in air). Wrap pastry in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Roll out pastry on a floured work surface and fit into a 9" tart pan. Cut away excess pastry. Prick pastry base with a fork, line with foil and fill with weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, remove weights and bake for 8 minutes or more until pastry looks pale and dry but not baked through. Remove weights and foil and cool.

Increase oven temperature to 400 F.

Place walnuts (which you have heated in the oven at 350 about 8 minutes until the skin blisters. Place in a towel to cool, then rub with towel to remove skins.) and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of the food processor and pulse until the walnuts are finely ground.

Place the butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy. Add walnut mixture and beat until well combined. Add yolks and lemon zest to mixture and beat until mixture is uniform. Stir in flour. Scrape walnut cream into pre-baked shell and spread in an even layer.

Cut the figs into quarters, but not all the way through the base. Fit the figs into the tart shell, allowing them to stand slightly open at the top (like flowers), but without leaving any large gaps between them.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet in the lower third of the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until walnut cream is puffed and slightly golden, and tips of the figs are slightly crisped.

Heat apricot jam in the microwave or a small pot over a low heat. Strain out and discard any bits of the apricot. Use a pastry brush to coat the figs with apricot glaze. Serves 8

Sweet Melon And Fresh Fig

Sweet Melon And Fresh Fig.

This dish always reminds me of my first visit to Milano to meet a new granddaughter and visit our daughter and son-in-law. Italians eat foods prepared with fresh ingredients. Daily shopping at the market is the norm. Our son-in-law who is an excellent cook tried to prepare many different dishes for my pleasure. For dessert one evening we had figs and cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto. What a treat!!! So naturally when I have that dish I always remember the trip to Italy I made to meet my new granddaughter Laura.

*

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds good quality prosciutto

12 melon balls of honey dew

12 melon balls of cantaloupe

3 fresh figs quartered

***

Parsley-Basil Oil

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

salt and cracked black pepper

***

Directions:

Mix the parsley-basil oil ingredients together and let stand at room temperature. Arrange the prosciutto and fruit on plate. Serve the salt and cracked pepper.

To eat, wrap the prosciutto around the fruit and eat the combination together.

***

You will never think of figs and melons again without thinking of this dish.