Fig and Ricotta Tart
What a delight to have a bit of rain on Saturday, thunder and lightening to boot! Summer storms are something I miss from my midwestern roots, England at least did provide a good dose of summer rain. The rain brought a smile to my face and a wave of nostalgia, actually more for our quiet days in Winchester when a short stroll through the tiny lanes, past the river, to the Bridge cafe was the perfect morning outing (especially with two toddlers and a new born) complete with fresh croissants. For some reason it is near to impossible to get a croissant here in Malta (at least in Zabbar). There is a wonderful cafe- newly reopened (will have to take a photo) in Valletta, a cafe near the old library called Cafe Premier which does thank god have good fresh croissants. Next post perhaps I will have to highlight some of my favourite cafes here. So yes a bit of rain over the weekend was lovely, the heat however did not subside much, and the humidity seemed only to increase. Back to the beach with the lot of us on Sunday.
I did find some last figs at the local vegetable stall and made this, which turned out suprisingly well! Shame I did not think to do it earlier in the season. Next year I guess.
I am terribly embarrassed about this picture, I am totally rubbish at taking good food pictures, and the grilled figs are a hard thing to capture but I feel compelled to add some kind of visual to the recipe.
Fig and Ricotta Tart
Crust - (makes enough for two)
6 ounces butter or about 3/4 cup (you can use half butter half margarine)
125 grams self raising flour (about a cup)
125 grams plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams almonds
1 egg
filling
250 ricotta
2 eggs
1 1/2 Tbs semolina
5 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix Flours, almonds, salt and baking powder together.
Mix in with your fingers the butter till the consistency of cornmeal or wet sand.
Beat one egg with a fork, add in a tablespoon of cold water
Pour egg mixture in and briefly mix together the dough.
Place the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out.
Blind bake the crust at 180 C for 10 min.
Take out and let cool
Meanwhile mix together the filling and once the crust is cooled off to room temperature pour in the filling and bake for 30 min or till the edges are golden brown at 180 C.
take out and place the quartered figs on the top, brush lightly with heated currant jam and grill for 10 min.
Let cool, tastes best when eaten cold.
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YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, bring it on!!!!! xg
ReplyDeleteFood pictures are a matter of practice, but they're not hard! All it takes is good light and a little playing with your camera. The best light is a bit of diffuse daylight, maybe from a window covered by a sheer white drape on sunny days.
ReplyDeleteLots of food bloggers use the a small aperture (3.0 or so) to focus attention on a specific detail of the food, while still giving context to the overall dish. They also seem to favor a low angle of attack, getting in close to the dish but including some of the surroundings, i.e. part of the dish, a bit of the table, etc.
Take a gander through C&Z pictures, Chloe has a good eye. A good strategy would be to try to choose a couple of her shots and try to emulate/reproduce her style. Once you get more comfortable with the camera you'll develop a style of your own.
Good luck!
Thanks for the tips, It's time I put some effort in improving. Will give C&Z a look. Made some coffee, hazelnut and dark chocolate ice cream yesterday that I will post about eventually if only I can get a decent photo!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh...heaven! I have to make that. Figs are my downfall.
ReplyDeleteLove them too, if you are in the states and making this recipe you may need to add a tablespoon or two of milk to the ricotta (it is more watery and less creamy here) you may not even need the semolina actually.
ReplyDeletethat sounds really good, i need to try i out
ReplyDelete