Fichi Biondi - Baked Figs with Gorgonzola Sauce

A couple of weekends ago, I walked to Graceville to see A Single Man (starring Colin Firth) at the Regal Cinema. It is a beautifully shot film, with an ironic ending. It is set in the 1960s, and has wonderfully stylised period sets. Julianne Moore was wonderful as the ditzy friend with an empty life.

On the way home, I dropped into the fruit shop at Graceville near the cinema, and was pleasantly surprised. As well as a range of fruit and vegetables which is far superior to the supermarket offerings, the shop stocked deli items which I previously believed could only be found in New Farm or the Valley.

It was too tempting to pass up, so I bought some figs and gorgonzola, and picked up proscuitto and cream at the supermarket to make fichi biondi - that is, baked "blonde" figs with gorgonzola sauce. I had spied this recipe in the May 2008 edition of Delicious magazine when I was searching for Italian dinner party recipes, and had wanted to make it ever since.




I wasn't disappointed - the baked figs were luscious, a little bit sweet and a little bit salty, and they melted in the mouth.

To make fichi biondi, you will need:

12 thin slices of proscuitto
12 fresh figs, stalks removed
10g butter (I left this out)
200ml pouring cream
100g gorgonzola dolce, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Wrap a slice of prosciutto around the middle of each fig, and secure with a toothpick:




Put the butter, cream and gorgonzola into a small saucepan, and melt over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Put the figs into a baking dish, pour over the sauce and cover loosely with foil. Bake the figs for 7 minutes, then remove the foil and bake them for a further minute until the prosciutto begins to crisp.

To serve, put 2 figs on a plate and spoon over some of the sauce. Delicious!!