Passion For Pasta: Prepare for a fresh fig treat!

Seasonality brings with it the welcome change of produce, be it sweet or savoury.

I am currently overrun with wonky courgettes, salad leaves and soon-to-be ruby tomatoes.

However, I will never moan or grumble about my excess bounty because I love to cook and, even more, I adore eating, almost constantly.

Now, as we tip-toe towards September, it is the time of year to cheer and welcome the best figs that Bedford has to offer.

Nonna Carmela’s fig tree there should be a national treasure.

I can still smell the aroma of the green plump summer figs as Nonna Carmela (she has just turned 91 years young) passes them to me in her tiny hands.

She would say in Italian: “Have them Carmelina, one for now and one for your journey home.”

She understood my love for fresh figs, picked off her huge tree that spilled into her recently-departed neighbour’s garden.

Nonna was always battling the thieving birds and hence would wrap each fig in either a small plastic bag or in old stockings in hope of protecting them, if only to save a few.

I am a fig purist in terms of when they are in season; they require nothing but a hungry Carmela.

This said, I am only one woman and hence occasionally even I require a little help in eating them.

Today’s recipe is a classic with a little twist, as I prefer speck instead of prosciutto.

Fico al gorgonzola e miele

Makes: 6 filled figs

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

6 plump seasonal figs

200g gorgonzola

6 - 12 slices of speck

30g butter

70g walnuts, chopped

Honey to drizzle

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

2. Slice each fig, making a cross, do not cut down to the base.

3. Crumble in and fill each fig with gorgonzola.

4. Wrap each fig with a blanket or two of speck.

5. Drizzle over a tiny amount of honey and bake for 25 minutes.

6. In a small frying pan, melt the butter and add the walnuts. Fry for five minutes, add one teaspoon of honey and stir.

7. Serve the figs with their crispy speck jackets on a slightly warmed platter. Sprinkle over the burnished walnuts and drizzle over a little more honey.

Carmela’s tip: Choose a seasonal or local honey. I currently have a little love and fondness for borage honey.