Thursday, September 9

Fig, goat cheese, and prosciutto pita sandwich


My local grocery store had figs buy-one-get-one free (BOGO) and I was so excited that I gave a little "Woohoo!" in the store when I saw the set-up.  Now, I've never had figs, so I had no idea what I was going to do with 2 pounds of figs, but - never fear - Tastespotting is here!  After perusing several pages of fig recipes, I've discovered that figs and goat cheese is a classic combination.  Since I was eating figs for the first time, I wanted to at least stick with something that was tried and true.  As soon as I saw the Awesome Figgy Sandwich that The Noshery posted, I knew exactly what I was going to use the figs for; it, too, was another one of those "MUST MAKE NOW" recipes.

I gotta say, I wasn't all that enamored with the figs.  I figure that's because I bought them from the store and didn't try them fresh (because everything is better fresh, of course).  They tasted a bit flower-y to me and, on their own, they were really so-so.  Plus, the texture was weird.  However, when mixed with goat cheese and tart-sweet mango butter, the combination of all the flavors was quite tasty!  Tara and I both kept saying how good the sandwich was as we were eating it.

I don't know if I'd do a BOGO of figs again, but I would definitely do a repeat of this combination!



Fig, goat cheese, and prosciutto pita sandwich
Inspired by The Noshery

I used pita bread because that's what I had; you could also use focaccia, ciabatta, or italian bread.  Additionally, I would have liked some sort of drizzle on the sandwich like the original recipe, but since we're avoiding vinegars, I had to make do with the mango butter.  Next time, I'd use either more mango butter or reduce some pomegranate juice (which I didn't have) to make a syrup.

I served this plate of deliciousness as the main dish with the cantaloupe, blueberry salad I posted recently. 

Ingredients

  • 1-2 large shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 2-3 figs, sliced (I used black turkey)
  • goat cheese
  • mango butter (or some other type of sweet-tart jelly/jam/spread)
  • 2 slices prosciutto
  • 6 basil leaves
  • pita pocket, sliced in half (I recommend Toufayan)
Directions

Heat a large skillet over med - med/high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil. After the oil has heated, add the butter.  Once the butter has melted and foamed, add the onions and stir to coat in the butter-oil mixture; turn down the heat to medium.  Cook the onions, stirring frequently, until they have browned, about 5 minutes - Be careful not to burn them!  Turn the heat down to medium or lower and continue cooking until the onions are done to your liking - I ended up with crispy (but not burnt) onions after about 30 minutes.

Assemble your sandwich as you see fit, but here's what I recommend: For each half, spread the goat cheese on one side of the pita - Don't skimp on this.  Spread the mango butter (or substitute) on the other side.  Place one slice of prosciutto along one side (either, really).  Then, add the figs and the basil leaves.  Finally, top it off with the onions.  This will be a little messy and you'll get filling all over your fingers when pushing the ingredients in, but at least it tastes good! (You'll see in the picture that I didn't use this method, but after assembly, I decided that what I recommended would make a more efficient preparation.)

Tip: To make it easier to open the pita half, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds or bake it in the oven at 350F for about 5 minutes

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