Today’s recipe is inspired by my friend (and super talented food blogger) Sarah, who recently posted a recipe for goat cheese stuffed figs with pancetta. She served them at a dinner party a few weeks ago, and her guests gobbled them up in record time. In fact, the figs barely made it out of the kitchen, ‘cuz our friend Spike kept snatching them off her serving plate as she was moving it outside. With that kind of endorsement + Sarah’s drool-worthy photos, it was pretty much a guarantee that I was gonna have to try the recipe for myself.
I did do a few things differently, however. First, I decided to turn the stuffed figs into crostini, because I was craving bread big time today. Then, instead of drizzling the honey on top of the figs, I mixed it into the goat cheese – the taste of raw honey is a little too much for me. Also, I didn’t have pancetta, so I used bacon instead. And, because I forgot I had pine nuts in the pantry, they didn’t make it into the recipe. Oh, and I threw some chopped basil into the mix, because why not? Cooking is obviously a really precise science for me.
But y’all? These crostini were good. Really good. The almost jammy sweetness of the figs was perfectly complemented by the creamy tang of the goat cheese and the salty crunch of the crisp bacon. The basil, which I worried would be overwhelming, was actually really subtle and aromatic, and just worked. And the bread (which I meant to grill, but forgot to) gave the whole thing a super satisfying texture/mouth feel, and was the perfect vehicle for the fruit and cheese. Over all, super delicious.
Even Dan, who usually refuses to eat anything with goat cheese on/in it, said these crostini were tasty. I think it was the honey in the goat cheese, which smoothed the sharpness of the cheese a bit and made it taste slightly more mellow than usual. Granted, he still only ate one piece, but…that’s progress. Also, more crostini for me! No complaints here. Give this recipe a try!
- ⅔ cups dried figs, cut into thin slices length-wise (fresh, ripe figs work too)
- 4 oz goat cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 baguette, cut into ¼-inch slices (Lightly toasted, if desired)
- ½ cup chopped basil
- 6-8 strips bacon, cooked until crisp (I bake mine in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes)
- In a small bowl, mix together goat cheese and honey until smooth and uniform.
- Slather honey-goat cheese mixture onto each slice of bread (Use as much or as little as you want per slice)
- Layer sliced figs over the honey-goat cheese mixture on each slice of bread.
- Crumble bacon on top of each piece of crostini.
- Sprinkle chopped basil on top.
- Enjoy, immediately!
(Inspired by Snixy Kitchen’s recipe)
Yum – Love your variation! Thanks for the shoutout, lady!
Thanks, per usual, for the recipe inspiration 🙂
I love figs and these look great!
Thank you! 😀