Planked Figs with Pancetta and Goat Cheese

Name: Planked Figs with Pancetta and Goat Cheese
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 118 milliliters crème de cassis or other not-too-sweet fruit liqueur, such as crème de mûre, or Calvados; 8 larges ripe black or green fresh figs, cut in half lengthwise, stems left intact; 237 milliliters crumbled fresh goat cheese; 8 slices thin slices pancetta; 1 Tbsp cracked black pepper

You can never have too many side dish recipes, so give Planked Figs with Pancettan and Goat Cheese a try. This recipe makes 6 servings with 251 calories, 10g of protein, and 16g of fat each. This recipe covers 7% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. If you have crème de cassis, pancetta, cracked pepper, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. It is a good option if you're following a gluten free diet. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes about 45 minutes.

Instructions

Pour the fruit liqueur into a shallow dish.

Ingredients you will need

Liqueur

Fruit

Sprinkle the pepper on a saucer. Dip the cut sides of the figs first into the fruit liqueur, then into the pepper, and place, cut side up, on a baking sheet to marinate for 20 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Liqueur

Pepper

Fruit

Figs

Dip

Equipment you will use

Baking Sheet

Cut each slice of pancetta lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips. Loosely wrap each fig half with a strip of pancetta. Fry the rest of the pancetta until crisp and crumbly and set aside.

Ingredients you will need

Pancetta

Wrap

Figs

Prepare a hot fire in your grill.

Equipment you will use

Grill

Place the planks on the grill grate and close the lid. When the planks start to smoke and pop, after 3 to 5 minutes, open the lid and turn the planks over using grill tongs. Quickly place the fig halves on the planks, cut side up.

Ingredients you will need

Figs

Pop

Equipment you will use

Grill

Tongs

Sprinkle the goat cheese and fried pancetta on the figs. Cover and plank-roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the figs have softened and are scorched around the edges and the goat cheese has a burnished appearance and a brownish-red color.

Ingredients you will need

Goat Cheese

Pancetta

Figs

Drizzle with the honey and serve.

Ingredients you will need

Honey

Oven-Planking: Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Equipment you will use

Oven

Place the planked pancetta-wrapped figs, sprinkled with goat cheese and fried pancetta, in the middle of the oven. Plank-roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the figs are scorched around the edges.

Ingredients you will need

Goat Cheese

Pancetta

Figs

Equipment you will use

Oven

Drizzle with honey and serve.

Ingredients you will need

Honey

This recipe can easily be divided in half if you have a grill that is too small to accommodate two planks at the same time, or you can stagger the cooking.

Equipment you will use

Grill

From 25 Essentials: Techniques for Planking by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig. Copyright © 2010 by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig; photographs copyright © 2010 by Joyce Oudkerk Pool. Published by The Harvard Common Press.