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Stuffed Figs are one of my favorite and most versatile appetizer dishes during the late summer and early fall. There are so many ways to stuff a fig. Stuffed figs can be served warm, grilled, roasted, or at room temperature. They can be served whole, cut open like a flower (shown above), or halved with the “stuffing” on top.
Figs are very sweet. Various fig varieties produce different notes ranging from nutty, honey, and berry to floral. This fruit wants to be balanced out with salty, bitter, and acidic ingredients like cured meats, nuts, pungent and tart cheeses, vinegar reductions, gastriques, and honey. Figs also make excellent desserts paired with cream, honey, and nuts.
Types of Figs
Any ripe fig works for stuffing. Some of my favorite of the most common varieties common in the US are as follows:
Green Figs
Calimyrna Figs – Bright green figs with a bright pink interior. Sweet. Visually striking. Great with blue cheese and goat cheese. Nutty flavor.
Kadota – Large bright green figs with a bright pink to honey-colored interior. These figs are less sweet than some other varieties. Their large size and sometimes hollowed-out interior lend themselves to cutting them in half and then stuffing.
Purple Figs
Mission Figs – Dark purple exterior and bright pink interior. Mission figs are very sweet. When roasted or grilled, their exterior takes on a really nice char and earthly flavor that contrasts with the sweet interior.
Black Turkey Figs – These are larger, homelier, and less sweet than other figs. Great for roasting or grilling and drizzling with honey.
Violette de Bordeaux (Negronne)– One of the most cold-tolerant varieties of fig. Violette de Bourdeaux tends to be a small to medium-sized fig, perfect for stuffing whole, with very dark skin and a bright red, very rich, berry-like sweet interior.
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Stuffed Figs
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 bites 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Cold Prep
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Stuffed figs can be prepared as an appetizer or dessert. These tasty bites are easy, beautiful, and fun for parties in the late summer and fall.
Ingredients
For 2 dozen Stuffed Fig “Bites”
24 small-medium figs with an x cut on the stem end of the fig to create a cavity
(or 12 large figs cut in half lengthwise)
Select a Stuffing Variation Below (or make up your own)
Blue Cheese, Pistachio, and Honey (shown above)
1–1 1/2 cups of room temperature blue cheese
1/2 cup chopped shelled and blanched pistachio (or sub walnuts)
Drizzle of honey
Milk and Honey (dessert or sweet appetizer) – serve chilled/room temp
1–1 1/2 cups mascarpone
honey for drizzling
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (or sub almond, walnut, pecan, or pistachio)
Bacon and Goat Cheese
1–1 1/2 cups softened goat cheese
1/2 cup bacon lardons*
balsamic reduction (either store-bought or home-made)**
Proscuitto and Summer Herbs
1–1 1/2 cups Ricotta Cheese
6–8 thin slices (4–6 ounces) of prosciutto torn into 3-4 pieces each for 24 strips in total
12 large leaves Basil and Mint (combined) and cut “chiffonade” ***
Honey to drizzle (and or balsamic reduction)
Instructions
prepare your figs
Select your fig variety. Look for ripe but still firm figs with unbroken and unshrivelled skin.
If the figs are large, slice them half lengthwise. If they are small to medium cut an x on the top where the stem is and open up to create a cavity for your stuffing.
Place 1/2-1 Tablespoon of soft cheese filling in the cavity of the fig or on top of the fig half.
If Heating (optional for most of these variations): Place in the oven, under the broiler, or on a grill at 425-450 F for about 4-5 minutes. Too long and the fig will become very soft and will need to be eaten with a fork and knife, maybe served over a bed of arugula😉. If you would like to be able to eat the figs with your fingers as an appetizer or dessert, keep the cooking hot and short.
On top of the cheese filling add cured meat, chopped nuts, and/or herbs if using.
Drizzle or place a drop of sauce over the top of each fig. Alternatively, you may drizzle sauce on the platter first before placing the stuffed figs on top – which looks nice…. at least until the first fig is removed.
Notes
* To Make Bacon Lardons: Cut your thick bacon slices lengthwise down the middle and then cross-wise into strips about 1/4 inch thick. Ideally, your using your own dry-cured slab bacon, and can cut the lardons a little thicker than sliced bacon. Fry the bacon lardons until crispy, set aside on a paper towel to drain, and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if not using right away. These are great for all sorts of dishes – salads, soup garnishes, loaded baked potatoes, etc.
** To Make Balsamic Reduction (or any Vinegar Reduction): Place 2 cups into the smallest saucepan you have in your house (no bigger than 2 quarts). Make a mental mark of where the balsamic comes up to in the pan. Place over the burner and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer until the vinegar has reduced to 1/4 of its original volume. You will need to watch this closely. It will burn and taste like tart carbon if you are not careful. You can check this by pouring it into a measuring cup (after it has cooled down a bit). When it is down it should coat the back of the spoon and be about 1/2 a cup. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
*** “Chiffonade” pronounced “SHif-a-nad” or “Shif-a-nād” is, according to the Oxford Language Dictionary, “a preparation of finely cut leaf vegetables used as a garnish for soup.” It can actually be used as a garnish for a lot of things – including these stuffed figs. To prepare “chiffonade”, stack the leaves neatly, roll them up into a tight log, and then slice the log cross-wise as thinly as humanly possible into little threads…or ribbons, depending on your knife skills.
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