Baked figs with blue cheese & prosciutto

This is the ultimate crowd pleaser, a fabulous & easy recipe that we both serve often as an appetizer or finger food, also good on top of a lightly dressed salad to make a fuller starter course for dinner parties. The combination of the figs, cheese and ham is a classic but with the twist of baking you get something a little different – the figs get syrupy as the blue cheese melts in and the ham begins to crisp, it’s truly divine in texture and flavour. You can use either black or green figs but they do need to be ripe, squishy but not too far gone. If we’re making this as finger food we usually do about 2 figs per person (makes four pieces) with an extra allowance for taste testing with a clear conscience.

Baked figs with blue cheese & Prosciutto

Black or green figs
Creamy blue cheese – Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Danish blue they all seem to work well
Prosciutto, Serrano or any other thinly sliced dry-cured ham

Slice the figs in half, make a small indent with the back of a teaspoon then place a small amount of blue cheese (marble size) and top with a piece of prosciutto. Arrange on a baking tray and roast in a hot oven, about 425F/200C for 8-10 minutes, but keep an eye on them! You want the prosciutto to be browning and the cheese and fig to melt together nicely, you don’t want them to over bake so they end up a jammy mess on the bottom of the tray (we’ve both been there – still delicious though!). Let them cool down slightly so your guests don’t burn their mouths and then watch them disappear in an instant.

Melani & Lorna