Here’s a mouth-watering Tuscan favourite and perfect with fig season in full swing here in Terra Australis. This one comes from the wonderful regional recipe book by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi Tuscany (Hardie Grant Books).
We have a lovely old photograph of Giancarlo’s father, Memmo, picking figs with our son Giorgio when he was little. Giorgio is carrying a little basket and looking up at his grandfather with joy as he fills it with ripe figs from the tree outside Memmo’s house.
Do use the ripest figs when in season, when they are naturally sweet and jammy. Alternatively, use berries, peach or nectarine slices, or persimmon. Even without the bread, this is a wonderful concoction.
Most hotels in Italy will offer fresh ricotta, fruit and honey, and some have nuts on offer, so I often rustle this up for a healthy breakfast when staying away from home.
Serves Two People
Ingredients
2 thick slices country style bread
125 g (4 oz/. cup) ricotta or mascarpone
2 ripe figs or other soft fruit, washed and trimmed
50 g (2 oz/½cup) shelled walnuts, roughly chopped
mild runny honey, such as acacia, for drizzling
Method
Toast the bread on both sides. Spread the cheese thickly on one side of each slice. Now slice or squash the figs, if really ripe and jammy, on top, scatter over the walnuts and drizzle with a little honey.
