Fig and Cherry Tomato Mosaic with Goat Cheese Herb Crema
RECIPE FROM FLAVOUR: SAVOURING THE SEASONS
Cherry tomatoes are like tiny jewels. Their myriad shapes and colors are so tempting that they’re hard to resist. Every farmer at our local market had simultaneously put their best fruit on display on one particular Saturday. I came home with a cacophony of cherry tomatoes and small succulent figs. What to make with all this fruit? A salad was the obvious choice, but with what? I searched in my fridge for inspiration and saw that I had some pepitas pâté left and some goat cheese. I decided to mash the two together to form a paste, on top of which I arranged the sliced tomatoes. I loved the mosaic effect of the assorted varieties, and the herb–goat cheese paste is the delectable surprise that awaits you when you dig into the dish.
Fig and Cherry Tomato Mosaic with Goat Cheese Herb Crema
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Pepitas Pâté, (recipe below)
- 4 tablespoons soft goat cheese
- 4 green figs, sliced into thin disks
- 4 Mission figs, sliced into thin disks
- 20 cherry tomatoes, sliced into thin disks
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 20 small basil leaves
- Coarse sea salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Mash the Pepitas Pâté and goat cheese together in a small bowl. Cover the center of four small plates with a thin layer of the mash using the back of a spoon or small palette knife.
- Place the larger fig and tomato slices over the mash, then cover with the smaller slices to create a mosaic effect. Dot the surface with the small basil leaves.
- Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil together in a small bowl. Spoon a little vinaigrette over the fruit, then season it with a pinch of salt and a dusting of ground pepper.
Nutrition
Pascale Beale
Chef, teacher and food writer, Pascale Beale, owner of Pascale’s Kitchen, grew up in an eccentric European family who cherish food, wine and the arts. She is the author of 10 Mediterranean-style cookbooks, including the best sellers Salade and Salade II. Her food memoir, 9’ x 12’: Adventures in a Small Kitchen, a multi-media book, is hosted on Substack. Her latest cookbook is Flavour: Savouring the Seasons.
