Fig Tart with Creamy Goat Cheese, Rosemary and Honey
Last month Sarah at The Delicious Life made a beautiful fresh fig tart and for a couple of days I couldn't stop going back to look at it. I was envious, because here in Southern Maine finding fresh figs is hit or miss, at best, but a few days ago I had a hankering for some wild boar meat so I stopped in at Savenor's Market one day when I was in Boston on business. (Yes, the same Savenor's Market -- albeit moved from Somerville to Beacon Hill and gone upscale -- that was Julia's favorite, and the home of her famous Jack the Butcher, but that's another story.) And there, nestled between the $69.99 per pound morel mushrooms and the $12.99 per pound French beans was a box of perfect fresh figs. I bought a small bag with no idea what I was going to do with them.
The figs were very ripe and sweet so I thought Sarah's honey mascarpone filling might be too much, but the idea she had of using a savory herb intrigued me so I made a quick trip to the garden for some rosemary and then rummaged around in the refrigerator and found some goat cheese and a leftover cup of whipped cream. The frozen puff pastry sheets in the freezer were calling my name, begging to be used up, so in about ten minutes we had our figs and cheese. (Wait -- I forgot to mention the honey! The figs were so sweet that I hardly needed any, but the combination of honey and figs is so good as to be compulsory, so I drizzled.)
Not nearly as beautiful as Sarah's tart but very satisfying from an eating point of view...!
4 oz plain unripened goat cheese
1 cup whipped cream
3 T milk
2 T fresh rosemary, minced
3 T honey
4 fresh figs
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
Preheat oven to 400º
Whisk together the cheese, cream, milk, rosemary and 2 T of the honey.
Cut the pastry sheet into 4 squares. Roll the edges under the squares to make a crust. Bake 10-12 minutes, 'till puffed and starting to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Slice the figs.
Spoon the cheese mixture into the baked pastry shells, lay fig slices over the cheese, and drizzle with remaining 1 T of honey.
[Note: not long after I made this I was checking out Michele's beautiful Oswegotea blog and I ran across her luscious-looking Figs with Goat Cheese and Pancetta. In her post Michele notes that she intends next time to chop some rosemary into the goat cheese. I guess certain things are just meant to be combined!]
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hi stephen, the combination sounds and looks very enticing - love the combination of figs and honey too...cheers,j
Posted by: J | July 15, 2005 at 09:52 AM
Absolutely gorgeous. I can just imagine how wonderful it tastes with a puff pastry base. And those figs are beautiful. You've got me thinking about my own fig/pancetta/goat cheese combo and how nice that would be in a small puff pastry cup. And I love that you didn't hold back on the goat cheese in that photo! With this and your last pasta dish you've got me drooling. I will be admiring those pictures for days to come..
Posted by: Michele | July 15, 2005 at 10:40 AM
Great tart, I still think that some thyme especially lemon thyme would work really well in the goats cheese. Or even lavendar flowers... hmmm maybe I need to experiment! YAY thanks heaps for being inspiring again stephen
Posted by: clare eats | July 15, 2005 at 11:01 AM
Mmm...that looks so decadent! I often want to prepare a dessert like this, but 'my' people seem to expect something a little more...chocolate!
Posted by: Stephanie | July 15, 2005 at 12:14 PM
"Not nearly as beautiful as Sarah's tart"
you're joking, right, stephen? your creation is gorgeous, and the second picture that shows how glossy the figs are with the honey - incredible.
i love figs, and back for another paper chef, the secret ingredients included goat cheese, so i made wontons with goat cheese, prosciutto, and dried figs (since it was march and there were no figs to be found!) - ah, but i should have added some rosemary...
Posted by: sarah | July 17, 2005 at 04:42 AM
Hi Stephen - the combination is intriguing, I must try it soon! Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: keiko | July 17, 2005 at 06:21 PM
I love savory flavors in sweets. The goat cheese-fig combo is a pair made in heaven. Probably, I will be visiting this link several times, Stephen. Thanks for a great recipe.
Posted by: mika | July 18, 2005 at 10:38 AM
Hi Stephen, that looks spectacular! Can you see me swooning? I think I need to get on this figs+goat cheese+rosemary bandwagon - you guys seem to be having too much fun!
Posted by: Melissa | July 18, 2005 at 11:39 AM
Hey, Stephen, this rosemary+fig+honey+goat's cheese combination sounds and looks extremely enticing!
Thanks so much for joining in on SHF again!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 18, 2005 at 12:33 PM
One cup of whipped cream? A friend made this and said it was milky - the amount of whipping cream seems excessive...it there a mistake in this recipe or is there something missing?
Posted by: Catt | January 14, 2006 at 09:29 AM
Hi Catt...sorry your friend's version didn't come out so good...I suspect, though, the answer to the question is in your comment..you say "the amount of whipping cream seems excessive" - but the recipe doesn't call for "whipping cream" - it calls for "whipped cream," which I think you will agree is a big difference. If made with whipped cream, not whipping cream, the mixture should be quite stiff...in fact, that's the reason for the addition of 3 T of milk to the mixture, to make it a little less stiff...
(If I had called for "whipping cream" the quantity would have been 1/2 cup and the instructions would have included the following: "whip the cream with a clean whisk until it holds stiff peaks" - but rather than include that I thought it was simpler to just call for whipped cream.)
Posted by: Stephen | January 14, 2006 at 10:10 AM
All summer, I cut figs almost in half, put in some goat cheese, wrap with proscuito, skewer with fresh rosemary & grill or broil. Easy appetizer & it keeps my Tuscan Blue rosemary bushes trimmed.
Posted by: marion | October 03, 2009 at 04:43 AM