Fig Prosciutto Bruschetta

I apologize in advance: this post is going to include some bragging. So, without further ado…

Nanananabooboo, I have a local source for fresh figs!

I adore fresh figs. I adore them despite my total lack of Italian, Greek, or Middle Eastern heritage. Several times each summer/fall, I will sacrifice many dollars to eat them. At Giant Eagle, fresh figs (frequently not very good ones) can be 79-99 cents each.

Here’s the story: One of my coworkers, Rosemary, who is quite Italian, started bringing fresh figs to work. Rosemary’s parents have not one but three incredibly well-loved, huge, old fig trees in their Mt. Washington yard. The family went so far as to build a removable greenhouse around the trees so that they could winter safely and spend summer in the sun. This lets them yield more figs than the family can eat, and I have an invitation to “just come pick the figs off the tree whenever.”*

Last week, Rosemary brought some figs to work, and put them in a bowl on the fourth floor by the coffee machine. Just as I do every day, I wandered up to 4 to sneak the good coffee. I thought I had found the end of the rainbow. I went to check with someone whose desk was close to this unbelievable treasure: “Do you usually have fresh figs just sitting around on 4?” His reply: “Oh, is that what those are?”

Clearly, I have some work to do. A mission, if you will.

(I’m sorry. I know that pun was totally uncalled for, but you can blame Table and Spoon.)

I have a feeling that many Pittsburghers, and potentially many Americans, think that figs are just a paste inside of Newtons or a made-up fruit in the form of dense little chunks for bran-heavy cereals. Well, folks, figs are an actual fruit that is juicy and sweet. They are about the size of a large strawberry and come in a number of colors, from light green to purple-green to almost black. If you want to know what one looks like on the inside, just take a look at the top of this website: that’s a close-up of the inside of some figs. And in addition to eating them right off the tree, you can make them into all sorts of things, from pies** to jams to ice cream.***

In addition to being delicious out-of-hand, figs pair really well with salty foods like prosciutto and pungent foods like blue cheese. For these bruschetta, I caramelized the figs cut-side down in a pan, then drizzled them with balsamic vinegar. If you don’t like blue cheese, you could use something strong and salty like romano.

Fig Prosciutto Bruschetta
Inspired, a little, by Cat Cora’s Cooking from the Hip

8 slices ciabatta
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices prosciutto
4 fresh figs, stems removed and halved
4 tablespoons crumbly bleu cheese
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Micro-arugula or finely chopped baby arugula, to garnish

Preheat the broiler.

Arrange ciabatta on a cookie sheet and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Broil bread until edges begin to turn golden, then remove.

In a small nonstick skillet over medium heat, fry each piece of prosciutto, turning once. Cut each piece in half (or smaller if necessary) and place 1/2 piece of prosciutto on each slice of bread.

Place the figs in the dry skillet, cut sides down. Saute without turning for a few minutes or until faces begin to brown. Remove the figs from the pan. Cut each half into four pieces, then arrange the fig chunks on the bruschetta, followed by the blue cheese. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar over each slice, then pop it back under the broiler until the blue cheese has started to melt. Top with micro or chopped arugula and season with kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Best eaten warm!

*So basically, this means that I win.

**H/t Brown Eyed Baker for the fig galette link. HOLY MOLY I WANT THAT PIE!

***I made that ice cream. Mine was a deep purple color and tasted good, but the texture was, unfortunately, too close to the gummy inside of a fig Newton. Also, the huge quantity of figs cost $20, and I basically would have preferred to just eat them. So the ice cream didn’t make le blog, but I thought you should know that you could, if you wanted to.

Tagged as: blue cheese, figs, prosciutto