Honeyed Fig Crostatas

It is Fig season, and I have never cooked with Figs before this year. I did find some very cute mini green figs a little while ago, which I quickly smothered in goat cheese, topped with honey and popped in the oven. Which was good, but this time I wanted to try something different.

So how convienent that I went to my mailbox and found a subscription to Food and Wine. A surprise little gift from my fantastic foodie brother-in-law that shares my love of new recipes and yummy ingredients. Thank you Robert, I promise to make you something tasty when you visit.

I have no quirky stories to go with this recipe since I have stumbled through this last week in a frantic dance of being late, and not having enough time to breath. Thankfully this recipe came together in about 5 minutes and there were no unexpected surprises (stay tuned for the Pumpkin shortage of 2009 for next weeks post).

The Crostata recipe was very yummy (cannot even be creative in my descriptions tonight sorry) and was a nice compliment to the light fruit. The one issue I had was with the thyme, I’m not sure what that was supposed to do but it tasted way to earthy for the rest of the flavors for me. I would leave it out; I’m actually thinking maybe black pepper next time instead… I will have to do a little research on whether or not those two flavors will mesh. Should be easy when my Flavor Bible shows up this week, just ordered it via suggestion from the Gluten-free Girl, and I’m also thinking I will retry this with apple and on a separate Crostata raspberries…. Totally predictable I know. Enjoy.

Honeyed Fig CrostatasAdapted from Food and Wine October 2009
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons ice water
1 1/2 pounds fresh green and purple figs, each cut into 6 wedges
5 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves, plus small sprigs for garnish
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water




Method

In a food processor, pulse the flour with the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. Add the water; pulse until the dough comes together. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 5-inch rounds, rerolling the scraps if necessary; transfer to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a bowl, toss two-thirds of the figs with 3 teaspoons of the honey, the lemon juice, thyme leaves and a pinch of salt. Arrange the figs on the dough rounds, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Fold the edges over the figs and brush the dough with the egg wash. Chill for 30 minutes.




Bake the crostatas for 35 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until the crusts are golden. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Gently toss the remaining figs with the remaining 2 teaspoons of honey. Transfer the crostatas to plates, top with the figs and thyme sprigs and serve.