Tuesday 9 October 2012

Spanish Figs, with Serrano Ham and Blue Cheese



Just a very quick one. As I think I might have mentioned (!!) I spent an idyllic few weeks in Spain in August for my sister’s wedding followed by a much needed holiday. My parents have a house in the Sierra de Gredos region which is a beautiful and remote part of Spain just  a couple of hours from Madrid. This is the sort of place you come to get away from the stresses of the city and just chill. The land used to be a proper working farm and we still have a lovely little veg patch, lots of cherry trees and figs. The cherries over, we were pretty happy to just have our fill of the figs that were bursting from the trees when we were needing an energy boost after all that sun bathing!


A totally inspired  idea was that of figs, Serrano ham and blue cheese which we had for lunch one day with a big salad that was made from just picked lettuce, onions and tomatoes.




Figs, stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in Serrano ham
-          As many ripe figs as you think you’ll eat (2 per person is good for a starter)
-          A lump of blue cheese, something quite soft and crumbly is good
-          Thinly sliced Serrano ham, a slice per fig
-          Runny honey for drizzling
-          Pepper to season

It’s really not necessary to be prescriptive with this, but  here are some general steps to follow:

1.       Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
2.       Evenly place the fig flat side down on a baking tray and split them open with a cross.
3.       Once you’ve opened up the figs, stuff them with as much or little blue cheese as you like, but be careful not to overfill them as they can get quite messy.
4.       Wrap each fig with a slice of Serrano ham and place on the tray and season. The cheese and ham are pretty salty so pepper should be fine.
5.       Once all the figs are done, drizzle with a little honey and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the ham is starting to crisp slightly and the cheese is melted.
6.       Eat quickly, when warm!

Now that Autumn is really in full swing, this is a nice way to bring back the taste of summer...


 
If you (like me) think that being in a stunning house in the middle of breathtaking scenery is a proper holiday then you can check out my parent house here, which is available for rentals: www.lahaciendadegredos.com