free-form fig tart

in effort to get myself back on track,

i invited my family for dinner.

i spent one week thinking and

talking about making lasagna,

but it wasn't until the morning of

that i actually started to look

at recipes.

i've said before that when i'm

cooking a bunch of things, i

prefer to wake up with the

ingredients already in the house.

it was unsettling to make a list

at 11am, leave the house, head

to two grocery stores to collect

five different kinds of cheeses,

three packages of lasagna noodles,

a lot of romaine,

several cans of plum tomatoes,

two loaves of bread,

three heads of garlic

and many other odds and ends.

on the menu:

romaine salad with slow-roasted tomatoes and blue cheese

butternut squash, hazelnut and sage lasagna

spicy turkey sausage and spinach lasagna

garlic bread with chives and lemon zest

fig tart with vanilla bean ice cream

it was a lot.

i even - and this is hard for me

to admit - made a list.

and that's why, when we got home

at 12:30, i started cooking,

grabbed my camera and took

exactly two pictures.

it wasn't until

i pulled the lasagnas out of the oven

that i remembered the camera,

lonely and abandoned,

on the far end of the kitchen.

the lasagnas were a huge hit

and probably catapulted the

night to the top of our dinner

party list. but, without any pictures,

they're a hard sell. so, instead,

i want to tell you about the

delicious, gorgeously rustic,

fig tart.

truth be told,

there aren't many pictures

of the fig tart either,

but this is a dessert that

is both so fast, lovely and simple that

i still feel ok talking about it.

two days before the dinner,

i decided to make crack pie -

we've talked about it in our

office many times and when

the recipe appeared in the

september issue of bon appetit,

i was thrilled. even though

it's a multi-step dessert -

asking you to make cookies,

then grind them up to form

the crust, i knew that it would

be worth it and that my family

would love the pie.

the day before, i started to doubt

the whole thing. i had to work

late that night and i still

didn't have lasagna recipes

chosen. i switched my focus

to a chess pie, a dessert that

every summer i vow to make,

but never do.

but, now it was the morning

of the dinner. i had gotten

home from work at 9pm

the night before and in spite

of drinking two cups of coffee,

i was still feeling that

maybe i unknowingly took

a sleeping pill last night feeling

(i hadn't). between the yet to be picked

lasagna recipes and the tomatoes,

i knew that i would need the oven

for most of the afternoon,

i was again doubting my choice.

and just like that,

the chess pie was out.

i don't remember what i searched

in google. but, the best fig tart, ever,

from chez pim popped up in the first

spot. i scanned the recipe, looked at

the pictures, understood that i would

have to commit to spending a pretty

penny on a lot of figs, that i would

have to make an almond filling

and that i would have to make pastry dough.

i also realized that it is fig season,

that the whole dessert could look a little

imperfect and still be delicious and that

after years of fearing homemade pie dough,

i can now hold my own.

so, somewhere in between

roasting the squash and frying the sage leaves,

i tossed

flour,

sugar,

salt,

butter and

water into the food processor.

while i peeled the roasted garlic,

larry grabbed the dough, flattened

it into a disk and covered with plastic

wrap and chilled until ready to use.

as larry started to cook the sausage,

i tossed roasted almonds and sugar

into the food processor before adding

butter and an egg. the mixture was really

thin, but at that moment the bechamel

started to boil, so i switched gears. when

i returned to the frangipane, it had

thickened nicely.

and when all parts

of both lasagnas were just waiting to be

assembled, i quartered the ripe,

sweet black mission figs, rolled the dough

into a shape that sort of resembled a circle,

and spread the frangipane to just an inch

of the edge. i added the figs, from the inside

out, in sort of concentric circles and folded

the dough in to form a crust.

i sighed and realized that even though i really

didn't want to, i would later regret not

brushing the dough with an egg wash. so i did,

before sprinkling on coarse sugar crystals.

dessert was made and it took less than 20 minutes.

i loosely covered the tart, placed it

back in the fridge and kept it there

until we sat down to eat the salads.

while we ate, the tart baked,

sweetly scenting the house

with caramel and jam.

i wasn't sure which way my family

would fall with this tart - figs are not

something we saw

a lot of growing up. but later,

after playing a very passionate

game of catchphrase, i cut seven slices

and larry added a scoop of vanilla ice cream

to each. we sat around the table.

we ate. just a couple crumbs were left

on only a few plates.

and that night,

i fell asleep glad that we pulled

off a marathon dinner in only a fraction

of the time. i was glad that when

my family arrived, the kitchen

was clean and i was calmly tearing

romaine leaves into a bowl. i was

glad that everyone had a good time.

and, i was glad, that even though

i can often go a little overboard

in the kitchen and out,

i'm starting to know where

to draw the line.

free-form fig tart

adapted from chez pim

i used my standby recipe for the dough that i've written about several times. it's worth repeating it here, so that you don't have to worry about going to another page. als0 - it's up to you, but i always re-chill my pies and tarts for at least 20 minutes before baking to ensure that the dough firms back up, producing a flaky crust. i used black mission figs, but i think that if you find fresh turkish figs in the market, you would enjoy a tart made with those, too.

the almond paste mixture calls for a combination of confectioners' sugar and granulated sugar. if you do not have confectioners' just use 1/3 cup total of granulated sugar.

one more thing: i didn't realize this until i started to write out the recipe, but apparently, i really should not pretend that i can handle math. the recipe called for 75 grams of butter, which i thought i had successfully converted to tablespoons. however, upon further inspection attempting to reconvert for you, it looks like i undershot. and that, probably, is why my almond filling was so thin. below, the correct amount.

pastry dough:

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1-3 tablespoons ice cold water

cut butter into cubes; place back in fridge until ready to use. in bowl of food processor fitted with the dough attachment, pulse together flour, salt and sugar until combined. add cold butter; pulse just until combined and the mixture resembles small pebbles. with food processor running, drizzle in 1 tablespoon water through tube. continue to drizzle in water, a few drops at a time, just until the mixture combines and forms a cohesive dough. form dough into a ball and flatten into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap. keep in fridge until ready to use.

frangipane

heaping 1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted and cooled

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/8 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

in bowl of food processor, combine almonds and sugar; process until fine. add the butter and the egg; pulse until completely combined. chill three quarters of the mixture for another use.

fig tart

pastry dough

1/4 frangipane mixture

15 medium black mission figs, quartered

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

coarse sugar

heat oven to 400˚f. place dough between two pieces of plastic wrap; using rolling pin, roll dough into 11" round. transfer round to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, removing plastic wrap. spread dough with frangipane, leaving a 1" border.

starting in the center, place figs on top of frangipane, leaving 1" border. fold dough over figs, pressing to secure.

using pastry brush, coat dough with egg mixture (use a paper towel to carefully sop up any egg that has dripped onto the parchment paper). sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar.

chill loosely covered at least 20 minutes. bake 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown. let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

fig and balsamic onion pressed sandwiches

so remember that focaccia?

the one that was good, but maybe

just a little flat?

i found a great, if not indulgent,

use for it: pressed sandwiches.

even though i sent a few squares

home with jenn, it was quickly

evident that i should have given

her more. we were only two

people, what were we going to

do with that much bread?

i was driving to work when

grilled cheese popped into my head.

very quickly, other ideas came

tumbling out: the mission figs that

were already in the fridge (or

should it be the nectarines that

were sitting on the counter?), the

maidenhead i bought from our first

monmouth county farmer's market

(or maybe instead the gorgonzola that was

nearing its final days?) and red onions

(definitely red onions).

as the day went on,

i wavered: should i put the nectarines

in the sandwich and add wedges of figs

to arugula for a side salad? would the

blue be too much? should i add arugula

to the sandwich? nuts? would the onions

be better cooked first? is it a mistake

making grilled cheese with a thick bread

like focaccia? could i just stop my brain

for five seconds? who in the world

spends this much time thinking

about a sandwich that is going to serve

two people after work on a weeknight?

finally, i turned to my office mate and asked,

would you rather have figs in a sandwich

and nectarines in a salad or

nectarines in a sandwich and

figs in a salad?

she took me seriously (i think) and said,

figs in a sandwich.

that was it - i would obsess no more.

when i got home,

i immediately diced an onion and tossed

the pieces into a pan with leaves of rosemary.

as they softened, i opted for the maidenhead,

a local semi-soft cheese, washed with

flying fish beer. the flavor was much stronger -

and dare i say, stranger - than i had remembered

from the farmer's market: kind of smoky -

but clearly it was not smoked - somewhat grassy

and pretty pungent. but, it was now or never,

so i grated the wedge down to fine shreds,

hoping that the tiny pieces would

encourage melting when they were layered

between two thick slices of bread.

i cut the focaccia into squares,

halved both horizontally and set the

bottoms on a plate.

by then, the onions were brown -

i tossed in a splash of wine

and a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

as they cooked down to something

slightly syrupy, i turned to the figs:

purple, plump and first of the season.

as i sliced them thinly, i realized how

many coins i could get from just one small

fruit. so, i cut three and placed the rest

back in the fridge.

and that was pretty much it.

yes, i had to assemble them.

it went something like this:

and then, yes, i had to cook them,

which was not even slightly an

oh-n0thing-to-it moment. you see,

even this thin focaccia is still focaccia

and it's a pretty fat bread as grilled

cheese sandwich bread goes. as soon

as i placed it in the skillet - i do not

have a panini press - i knew they were

not going to cook well in their natural

state. after quickly scouring the kitchen

for something to weigh them

down with, i finally opted for the one

thing easily available: my hands.

i will admit, the pan and bread

were not very hot (yet) and i do have

fingers that can handle quite an

unnatural bit of heat. so, i pressed

hard and took a deep breathe before

the first peak. and - they were flat!

when the bottom was a beautiful

golden brown, i flipped the squares,

replaced the foil and put my hands

back on top of the sandwiches. i

persevered, but i'm not going to lie -

they were much hotter this time.

(i will take this space as the first

opportunity to say that i am in

no way recommending this method.

i will tell you again, below, in

the recipe, not to use your hands.)

when i was sure they were

sufficiently squished, i ran into

a flurry, tossing wild arugula into

a bowl, thinly slicing nectarine wedges

and tossing them, along with some

toasted hazelnuts, in with the greens.

the salad went onto a plate and a minute

later, was neighbored by fig and onion

grilled cheese, expertly (ha!) pressed

and just waiting to prove that it

was a sandwich worth obsessing over.

(good news: it was.)

fig and balsamic onion pressed sandwiches

i think this recipe almost qualifies as a non recipe. it seems silly to give you one, but in the end, we really enjoyed these sandwiches and i wanted to tell you about them. i urge you to look at the directions, below, as a guideline. not crazy about a cheese with funk (even though the maidenhead mellowed considerably when melded with the other ingredients)? use mozzarella, italian fontina or a mix. think you would love blue? add a few sprinkles on top of the fillings before cooking. wish i used that nectarine? go for it. not crazy about rosemary? that's fine - use thyme, a little sage or nothing at all.

oh, and there's this again: i don't have a panini press and even though i spent many years at a magazine telling people to just use a brick placed over foil, i don't own a brick. so, i did something that worked perfectly, but that i can never in good faith recommend: i used my hands and my body weight to great result. however, i have to admit, that the process was rather warm and probably, bordering on dangerous.

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 large red onion, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 splash white wine (i'm sure red would be good, too)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

5-6 ounces semi-soft cheese, like cherry grove farm's maidenhead

2 sandwich-size squares focaccia, halved horizontally

2-3 large mission figs, top and bottoms trimmed and thinly sliced

in medium skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil 1 minute. add onions; sprinkle with kosher salt and stir in rosemary. cook 15 minutes, or until slightly softened and golden, stirring often. (if they start to brown too quickly, turn the heat down to medium-low.) add splash of wine to skillet; add balsamic vinegar. turn heat to medium-high; cook 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid has been reduced, stirring occasionally. remove from heat; let cool slightly.

meanwhile, using small holes on box grater, grate cheese; set aside.

place bread bottoms on clean flat surface. divide onion mixture evenly over bread bottoms. top with fig slices. divide shredded cheese over figs, pressing to adhere. add focaccia tops; press slightly.

in large skillet coated with cooking spray (don't yell) or olive oil spray, over medium to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stovetop runs), carefully place sandwiches. top with foil and brick or whatever other very safe method you choose to use to weigh them down. cook 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom, pressed and the filling is starting to meld together, checking to make sure the bread does not burn. flip sandwiches; press again and cook 3-5 minutes more, or until golden, pressed and cheese is melted. transfer to cutting board; halve. of course, if you have a panini press, you're lucky - use that instead.