Fig, Prosciutto, and Pâté Toasts
Recipe by Lily Morello
I get pretty excited about fig season. Where I live, I can typically find other fruits like strawberries and apples all year round, but figs are really only obtainable during the wonderful summer and fall months. My favorite way to enjoy them is raw, as part of a savory-sweet combo; for example, with a smear of Three Little Pigs Mousse de Foie Canard au Porto holding them in place piled on toast, alongside some Three Little Pigs Prosciutto. There is something about the jammy texture of a perfectly ripe fig along with its gentle honey sweetness that is a perfect foil to the delicately thin slices of salty dry-cured prosciutto, and the nice tang from the port wine in the mousse pâté bridges the gap between them so well.
This combo will be delicious any which way you choose to cut up your figs—slicing them in half so they are more bite-sized will do, really. But if you want to impress your friends on Instagram, you could do this little zig-zag cut for your figs, as I have done for these photos. That’s what got you to click into this recipe, right? It’s one of those food styling tricks that looks complicated but is actually so easy! Just be sure to have a good, sharp knife; it’s actually safer to work with a sharp knife than a dull one because you will be applying less pressure to pierce the blade partway into the fig (and most definitely not all the way through to your palm!)
To cut zig-zag figs:
Hold your fig on its side to have a direct view of the surface you’ll be cutting into. Carefully insert a sharp, small paring knife into the surface of the fig to begin cutting a V; the knife should go in halfway through the fig as you do this. Be careful not to cut all the way through!
After cutting the first V, continue the zig-zag pattern around the fig. As you work your way around the fig, keep an eye on the first V that you made and make sure that the last cut connects back with the first cut.
Gently pull the top and bottom halves of the fig apart. Now you have two halves of fig that are ready to go on top of your delicious toast!
- Bread: You’ll be using some fantastic ingredients on these toasts so you won’t want to skimp out on the bread either. Grab your favorite artisan loaf (I recommend one that is rounded or in a boule shape) and slice 2 pieces that are 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.
- Pâté: Three Little Pigs Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto is a creamy, spreadable duck liver mousse that is what’s going to hold your toppings on your toast. It is made with port wine so it’s a perfect pairing with figs!
- Figs: You’ll want the very best that fig season has to offer. Look for ripe figs that feel tender to the touch. I used a combination of kadota figs, which I sliced with the zig-zag technique and black mission figs, which I simply sliced lengthwise.
- Prosciutto: Three Little Pigs Prosciutto is carefully dry-cured with just enough salt to preserve it while also allowing the meat to remain tender. It’s a lovely savory contrast to the figs!
I also included thinly-sliced grapes on my toasts to complement the Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto, as well as fresh basil and marjoram for herbaceousness. And I finished them off with a little drizzle of honey and some puffed quinoa for texture. I’d say that these additions are fairly optional, and encourage you to experiment with your own creative way to add a final flourish when decorating your toasts. The toasts will already be incredibly tasty, slathered with the Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto and just topped with the figs and Prosciutto, so the rest is up to you!
Fig, Prosciutto, and Pâte Toasts Recipe
Ingredients- 2 thick slices of artisan bread, such as rustic sourdough
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2–3 oz Three Little Pigs Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto
- 1 package Three Little Pigs Prosciutto
- 6 figs, cut in the zig-zag style (tutorial below), or simply halved or sliced
- 4–6 grapes, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp honey
- basil leaves, for garnish
- marjoram, for garnish
- puffed quinoa, for garnish
On medium-high, heat a skillet large enough for both slices of bread. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and swirl to coat the skillet. Add both slices of bread and press gently with a spatula or flipper to make sure the bread is evenly absorbing the oil. Continue to pan-toast the bread to your desired level of toastiness. Remove the bread, add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the skillet, and repeat with the other side of the toasts.
Spread a thick layer of mousse pâté over each toast. Top with prosciutto, figs, and grapes, dividing these toppings evenly between the two toasts.
Transfer toasts to a serving plate or board. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of honey over each, then garnish with basil, marjoram, and puffed quinoa as desired. Enjoy immediately!
