Grilled Fig Appetizer

With a loaded fig tree producing awesome treats every day, Jana decided to make a fig appetizer for a friend’s birthday dinner. Utilizing a Goggle search, she found a great recipe for grilled figs stuffed with bleu cheese and wrapped in prosciutto.

She did the prep work and I grilled them on the large Big Green Egg. They were a hit, so I decided to add this to my Blog for anyone looking for a great summertime appetizer. (They could also be stuffed with goat, feta, or mascarpone cheese).

She took clean fresh figs and made 2 cuts into them from the stem end – deep enough to just open them up slightly; then stuffed a small piece of bleu cheese into each opening.

She wrapped each stuffed fig with a strip of prosciutto, folding the excess over the top to help seal in the cheese.

These can be made the day before, covered and kept in the refrigerator for grilling the next day.

I prepared my large BGE for an indirect cook (platesetter, legs up) at 350-400*. After the figs had been on for few minutes, I decided they would cook a little better over the direct heat, so I moved them over the edges of the platesetter, exposing them to the direct heat, and carefully turning them every few minutes until the prosciutto was evenly seared and the figs softened. (Next time I would cook over direct heat, but maybe at 250-300*). These can also be cooked on a parchment paper-lined baking pan under a broiler instead of the grill.

Once done, they were placed on a serving platter and each fig drizzled with a little honey. It was finished with several twists of fresh-ground black pepper over the whole batch. They can be served warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy,
Misippi Egger
(Clark Ethridge)

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Makes 30 appetizers

Ingredients:
Fresh figs (30)
Fresh bleu cheese (or goat, feta or mascarpone cheese)
Prosciutto (cut lengthwise into strips)
Honey
Ground black pepper

Instructions:
(1) Wash and dry the figs, then make 2 slices (an “X”) through the stem end of each fig, just deep enough for the cheese.
(2) Place a small piece of cheese into each fig.
(3) Wrap the strip of prosciutto around each fig, pulling it closed, then using any excess to cover the cut end of the fig.
(4) Grill (or cook in broiler) over direct heat (250-300*), turning frequently until the prosciutto is seared, the fig has softened and the cheese begins to melt – about 6-8 minutes.
(5) Place on serving dish, then drizzle each fig with honey followed by fresh ground black pepper.
(6) Serve warm or at room temperature.