Baked Figs Wrapped in Parma Ham

This is a light sweet glamorous starter, that wouldn’t pile on the pounds. Figs can be quite difficult to get, but if you see them in the supermarket, you should definitely take advantage. They are grown in sunnier climates. The figs I bought in the supermarket were from Turkey.

Figs can either be part of a salad, a starter or as a sweet treat.

This elegant starter is really easy to make and very fast, it’s a delicious sweet  starter with a balsamic kick. The figs are brushed with a honey and balsamic  glaze, wrapped in parma ham, then baked for 10 minutes in the oven, The plates can be prepared in advance with just a bed of rocket scattered with chopped walnuts. To make this more indulgent you could add a small cube of goats cheese to the centre of the gifs, but I made them without the goats cheese on this occasion, trying to keep the calories down.

Serves 2

Ingredients

·         6 fresh figs

·         1 bag of prewashed rocket leaves

·         2 tbsp of chopped walnuts

·         6 slices of parma ham

·         1 tbsp of honey

·         1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

·         1 tbsp of olive oil

·         Salt & pepper

Method

1.       Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2.       Line a baking sheet with baking paper

3.       Trim off the tops of the  figs and cut a cross in the top of them, stopping ¾ way the way down the fig.

4.       To make the honey and balsamic glaze, wisk together the honey, balsamic, oil and salt and pepper in a jug.

5.       Rub each fig with the honey and balsamic mixture and wrap a slice of parma ham around each fig

6.       Pour any remaining glaze over the figs and bake for 10 minutes.

7.       Meanwhile, to plate up put a bunch of rocket leaves in the centre of your plate and scatter with the chopped walnuts.

8.       Place 3 figs on each plate and pour over the baked juices which ecaped the figs, this is your dressing.

9.       Decorate the plate if you like with a little balsamic syrup.