This recipe is an appetizer that is full of flavor. We brought them to a wine tasting last week and I did a few test runs to see how they would taste. Last year I won the best tasting appetizer with an artichoke dip recipe posted by Anna, so I was hoping to win two years in a row. Which?? Ahem…I did! 😉 I just squeaked by, though, and there were so many tasty treats there that I was quite surprised I won.
I first made the cheese without the olives in it and it was overall too sweet. You need to put the olives in, trust me. I also made them first without reconstituting them a bit in water. They both work, just expect the fully dried figs to be harder to eat.
This dish sounds so gourmet, but it is really fairly easy to make. The only thing that takes any time is stuffing them. If you have any leftover cheese, it goes GREAT on warm french bread.
Recipe:
1 bag dried figs
1 package goat cheese
1/4 cup diced pitted calamata/kalamata/greek olives
1 package prosciutto
Take the stems off the figs and immerse in warm water to get them reconsituted a little. You don’t want them totally mushy, so just 15-20 minutes or so. Dry them off. Cut a slit down the middle of each one, but make sure to not go all the way through. While they are getting plumped up, dice the olives and mix with the goat cheese. Cut the proscuitto into 3 pieces per slice. YOu can do this now or while you are making them up. Stuff the figs with as much goat cheese mixture as you can and then wrap the whole thing in a proscuitto blanket. Place them all on a baking sheet and turn the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 15 minutes to get them all warmed through. Serve warm with a nice glass of red wine.
You could also wrap them with bacon if you would rather use that. It may take a bit longer to cook though, just watch them until the bacon done.
Oh, another thing on the food front…I’m so happy we joined an organic CSA for the summer! I’ve been wanting to find one, and one of the gals at the party was setting one up for drops at her house. Yay! I’m looking forward to trying to coerce our children to eat more veggies this summer. This one just really grows the staples and not all the wierd veggies, so I should be able to use most of it. I got a full share, so whatever doesn’t get used I should hopefully be able to freeze. I will definitely be freezing more of my herbs this year…I’m almost out! 🙂
Oh wow! I think I will be making these for my man this weekend!
That does sound so gourmet. Congrats on the win second year in a row.
I bet you will love the CSA. I wanted to join one last year, but my husband was skeptical so we held off on it. This year we are going to try growing some of our own vegetables. Depending on how that goes, we might join one next year. I think it is a great deal!! Plus you can’t beat locally produced vegetables.
D’lish!
Yay for the CSA!!
I just posted about our first box, we picked it up yesterday~
🙂
Those sound yummy! I love dates. I wish I could find a good, reasonably priced CSA around here.
That has literally all of my favorite things in it, SO on top of that. Yum.
This sounds like an explosion of flavor… wow! Next shopping trip, I think I am going to try this.. my honey would like it too I think.. yummy!! Congrats on winning 2nd year in a row, Stacy! That is so fun!!
I have been looking into a organic co-op too.. so so glad that you found one that works for you and is in your area! That just makes it so much easier!
Hugs.. and happy weekend to you!
Amy
oh oh.. before i forget… what brand of goat cheese do you recommend. I have had some pretty tastey goats cheese and some pretty nasty. 🙂 Just wanted to make sure I buy the good stuff.
Hooray! A CSA!
You appetizer looks DELISH!!
I meant ‘your’…
This gives me another chance to tell you how DELISH that looks!
Oh, these look so good – and different! Congrats on winning again this year. I have a yummy chicken recipe with kalamata olives, capers and more that I have been meaning to post, but haven’t been able to make it so I could snap a picture. Hopefully soon!
YUMMMMM !!!!