GRILLED FIGS + BLUE CHEESE WRAPPED IN BASTURMA

Summer is a perfect time to eat this luxurious and sensual fruit.  Apart from their delicious taste, figs are so versatile and could be eaten as a fruit or as a savoury item.  As much as I enjoy eating them as they are, I also like to impress my guests by serving them as an entrée.

The combination of the piquant taste of cheese combined with the sweet aroma of figs, further highlighted by the spiciness of basturma (a highly seasoned air-dried beef, traditionally attributed to the Turkish cuisine), delivers an absolutely divine taste to the final dish. 

Each of these ingredients is unique in its flavour and does not require long and heavy cooking to develop the flavours, which is what I like about this recipe.

To serve it to 4 people you need:

8 ripe figs

100 gr of blue cheese crumbled

8 thinly sliced pieces of basturma (available at a deli shop)

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

A bunch of rocket or watercress leaves for garnish

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 160C and set it up for grilling.

Place the figs on a cutting board and gently slice cross-ways half way down the fruit, press lightly with your finger to open the figs up and gently push a few pieces of blue cheese into the opening.

Wrap a piece of basturma around each fig and secure with a tooth pick.  If the slices are not long enough, you can cut each piece of basturma in half lengthwise, wrap the basturma around the fig and then secure the slices of basturma with a tooth pick.

 

Add olive oil to the pan and then place the figs into the pan in an upright position.  If they tend to fall onto their side, scrunch a small piece of foil to make a stand for the fig.  Splash balsamic vinegar over the figs and pour the remaining balsamic vinegar into the pan and place under the grill for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

 

Remove from the oven, scatter some rocket or watercress leaves over the plate and sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, place two figs on top of the rocket or watercress and drizzle the pan juices over the figs and around the plate like a real pro.

Enjoy!!!