I love fresh figs – and they are not easy to find in Iowa. So why choose a dish with an impossible to find ingredient you ask? Yeah, I know…rude. But trust me, fresh figs are a beautiful thing. Can you use dried figs? NO. I would rather you use a warm fig jam than dried figs. Dried figs have a purpose- I’m not sure which purpose, but if you have recipe using dried figs that you LOVE – send it to me. I love being wrong 🙂
I found these fresh black mission figs at Gateway Market in Des Moines. The season for figs is fairly long – early spring through early winter, so it’s not THAT impossible to find. I make flatbread a lot in our house and this one is one of my favorites! Sometimes I will spread fig jam on the flatbread prior to baking if I can’t find fresh figs. No rules – not with flatbread. Find the fresh figs. Make the flatbread!
Flatbread with honey caramelized figs & prosciutto
Ingredients
- Store-bought flatbread or Naan bread (I prefer the flatbread at Aldi or the Naan bread from Fareway)
- Basil infused olive oil – I shove fresh basil into a small squeeze bottle with olive oil – leave for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours – remove from the oil – chop up and use!
- Salt and pepper
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella ball
- 12 ripe black mission figs, sliced in half
- 1/2 cup local honey
- 4 ounces prosciutto, very thinly sliced
- ½ cup arugula
- fresh grated parmesan cheese
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Yes, that seems high – but you want the flatbread to crisp – not steam.
- Drizzle the flatbread generously with basil olive oil and season with salt and fresh ground pepper. *remember the prosciutto and mozzarella will be naturally salty. So go lightly with the salt.
- Thinly slice or tear the fresh mozzarella ball (yes, you can certainly use shredded – I’m not that much of a jerk) and arrange the mozzarella and prosciutto in a single layer.
- While your flatbread is cooking, prepare the honey figs. Pour the honey into a non-stick (that’s important) pan and simmer over low heat for about two minutes until is starts to bubble. Add the figs face down to the bubbling honey and sautĂ© until the honey starts to brown. The figs will break down a little – but that’s what you want. Shake the pan and coat both sides of the figs with the bubbling honey.
- Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. You want to add the honey figs to the flatbread while they are still warm and syrupy. If the syrup starts to harden – STOP FREAKING – just warm them back up.
- When your flatbread is cooked, carefully remove it from the oven. It should take about 12-15 minutes.
- Top your flatbread with the arugula and shredded parmesan cheese and drizzle with the honey fig reduction. Slice and serve immediately! If you have leftover honey figs it’s DELICIOUS over yogurt or ice cream! Mmmm
