End of Summer Dinner: 3 Easy Fig Recipes

Back to school is coming! To end the summer holidays on a comforting note, celebrate the arrival of autumn figs by cooking them around a delicious end-of-summer dinner.

Choose the fig

To choose figs correctly, make sure they are ripe. Figs, once picked, do not ripen any more. If you take figs home that are not ripe enough, do not expect them to ripen in the coming days, like a banana or an avocado. They will only deteriorate over time since they are not climacteric fruits. This means that they do not release ethylene, a gas contained in bananas for example, which allows the fruit to ripen on its own even after picking. To choose a fig that is ripe and ready to eat, its skin must be supple, almost soft, except for its stem, which must be very firm. It is also important that the fig gives off a good sweet smell, and that it does not have any areas that are too brown on its skin.

Cooking figs

To know which fig to choose, if you are looking for a fairly sweet taste in your recipes, opt for a white fig. Its skin is pale green and its pulp red. For a less juicy product that will withstand cooking better, opt for the purple fig. It is the most common on market stalls, and is recognizable by its purple skin and purple pulp.

It should also be noted that there are two types of figs. On the one hand, summer figs, those that are harvested from the end of June to the beginning of July; on the other, autumn figs, those harvested from the end of August until October. While summer figs are often juicier and sweeter than the second-ripening figs of the year, figs are more often honoured in autumn. The reason? They “hold” longer and are mainly served with autumn dishes. Cheeses, stews, such as with lamb fillet for example; or even in a fig tart with frangipane. The season of new figs has just begun, take advantage of it to prepare some fig recipes for your dinners! On a pizza with garlic cream, or even stuffed with fresh sheep’s cheese to recall the famous combination of fig and cheese; or as a sorbet to cool off, a multitude of possibilities are available to you.

Pizza with figs, garlic cream and coconut

A delicious vegetarian pizza that highlights the combination of fig, coconut and garlic cream.

Discover our recipe for pizza with figs, garlic cream and coconut

Fresh figs stuffed with fresh sheep’s cheese and dill

Delicious sweet/savory appetizers that are out of the ordinary and combine the character of figs with the sweetness of fresh cheese. Add a drizzle of honey for even more flavor.

Discover our recipe for fresh figs stuffed with fresh sheep’s cheese and dill