Baked Figs & Serrano Tagliatelle

Do you have any quirks? I do. Lots of them. I love to wear my pyjamas inside out, to spread butter on the edges of my toast and to create spreadsheets for everything.  But probably my most remarkable one is the way I do shopping.

I really have a fixation with shopping organisation, starting from where and where not to park in the supermarket. Because of course, more than a 30 seconds walk from the car until the sliding door is far too long to be walked. I always pick a trolley, it doesn't matter if I only need a bag of crisps, I have to pick it just in case. If I've managed to park near one of those trolleys in the car park, I can't pick any of them. It needs to be one right next to the supermarket door and of course, I would never ever pick one with rubbish, a ticket or someone else's shopping list.

Once I'm the supermarket, I need to go through every single aisle, left to right. Yes, it doesn't matter that I just need a bottle of milk and some biscuits. I will walk through the fruit and veg, toilet paper and dog food, even if I don't have a dog, just in case. Because it will really annoy me to realise I've missed a great offer. Really. I don't think I could cope with that.

At the beginning of our relationship, this fixation really drove my husband nuts. Even if he had a massive list of things to buy, he used to go randomly through the aisles, forgetting an awful lot of stuff and buying masses of junk he didn't need. 

And now, almost 15 years together later, every time we go into a supermarket he still asks me “are we going to do it your way, aren't we?” looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

I believe the worse thing about this is that shopping is the only activity I am this thorough at. For any other aspect of my life I'm quite anarchic, being reading instructions or following a recipe things that I just don't do.

So I reckon my absolutely lack of coherence is what drives my husband mad, as I can spend one hour in a supermarket just to buy a packet of flour and then assemble an Ikea piece of furniture without even opening the manual.

This week recipe was only possible because that time, as every time, I drove my trolley aisle by aisle just to spot 3 packets of fresh figs in the reduced to clear area. Perfectly ripe, sweet and tasty they inspired me to prepare this savoury sweet recipe that is perfect for a summery day.

WHAT YOU NEED

4 large fresh figs

300g Fresh Tagliatelle

8 Slices Serrano Ham

1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 Shallots

1tbsp Butter

1tbsp Honey

1tsp Balsamic Vinegar

150gr Parmesan Cheese Shavings

50gr Pine Nuts

A bunch of fresh basil

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Mix the honey with the olive oil. Put the figs cut in halves in an oven tray and season with the honey and oil mix. Sprinkle some salt and bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a deep pan, heat the cooking olive oil with the butter to medium heat and cook the shallots until soft and brown, stirring occasionally to prevent them from catching. Then add the balsamic vinegar, sprinkle the sugar and stir for around 5 more minutes. Set aside.

Cook the pasta in a generous amount of boiling salted water, according to packet instructions. Drain well.

With the heat off, put the pasta in the pan where the onions are and mix. Cut the ham into thin strips and add to the pasta. Finally add the pine nuts. Divide between four serving plates.

Place the figs on top of each plate of pasta and pour the juices from the figs on top.

Garnish with the shavings of parmesan and some basil.

Serve warm and enjoy.