In season beginning in late summer, fig recipes provide a bridge between light warm-weather meals and the heartier preparations we crave in fall. Figs are great in spreads. Paired with salty, briny olives, their sweet, earthy flavor is a natural complement to cheese. Fresh figs are around for too little time, but dried figs, available year-round, are also delicious. We've rounded up our favorite fresh and dried fig recipes.
Goat Cheese Crostini with Fig-Olive Tapenade
A tangy-sweet tapenade made with dried figs, kalamata olives, and capers is the perfect foil for mild goat cheese in this easy appetizer. Get the recipe for Goat Cheese Crostini with Fig-Olive Tapenade »
A tangy-sweet tapenade made with dried figs, kalamata olives, and capers is the perfect foil for mild goat cheese in this easy appetizer. Get the recipe for Goat Cheese Crostini with Fig-Olive Tapenade »
This irreverently named cocktail, composed of grenadine, cardamom, fresh mint, and boukha, a Tunisian fig distillate, comes from Casino de Paris. Located in a former brothel that's tucked into a courtyard in Jerusalem's central market, Machane Yehuda, Casino de Paris boasts some of the holy city's most stupendous sips. Get the recipe for Pomegranate Fig Smash »
Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce
Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce
Mustard-and-herb-marinated quail gets a quick sauté for this earthy dish and is served with poached beets and a sweet-tart fig and ruby port sauce. Adapted from a recipe by chef Stuart Bell of Ten Minutes by Tractor in Mornington Peninsula, Australia, the dish has black barley, a variety with the bran still attached to the wheat kernel. Get the recipe for Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce »
Carrots are roasted before being topped with crunchy pistachios and a sweet fig vinaigrette in a simple salad from Eli and Max Sussman's Classic Recipes for Modern People (Olive Press, 2015). Get the recipe for Carrot and Pistachio Salad »
This preserve is a balm for those mourning the passing of summer's fleeting fresh fig season. It can be made any time of year and has a deep, sophisticated flavor. It's best served with stinky cheeses, though some also enjoy it drizzled over steel cut oats on chilly mornings. Get the recipe for Dried Fig Compote »
Robiola-Stuffed Figs with Pomegranate
Pungent Robiola cheese can be substituted with brie, ricotta, or any other soft cheese in this simple no-cook appetizer. Get the recipe for Robiola-Stuffed Figs with Pomegranate »
Pungent Robiola cheese can be substituted with brie, ricotta, or any other soft cheese in this simple no-cook appetizer. Get the recipe for Robiola-Stuffed Figs with Pomegranate »
Clafoutis is a French dessert that's trickier to pronounce than to make. A simple mixture of flour, eggs, dairy, and a little sugar, it's like a pancake, but more custardy, and it's baked instead of griddled. It looks and tastes impressive the way classic French desserts often do, but it's simple enough to whip up any weeknight. Rum-soaked dried apricots, figs, and raisins add their caramelized and honeyed flavors to this creamy version, perfect for cold weather when there's no fresh fruit around. Get the recipe for Dried Apricot and Fig Clafoutis With Rum »
This Manhattan variation is given a deep, complex sweetness by homemade fig syrup. Get the recipe for Madison Square »
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