Happy 1st December!! Who’s got an awesome advent calendar this year? Mine’s an absolute cracker from Bluebird Tea Co. filled with tea samples, teeny scented candles and chocolate treats too. More to come on that once we’re further into December. For now, I am delighted to be working with Opies Foods who have sent me some fantastic ingredients to try out and also for a giveaway which you can find details about at the bottom of this post. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a deliciously decadent puff pastry tart topped with blue cheese, radicchio, pine nuts, prosciutto and finished off with Opies Figs in Courvoisier for a final flurry of indulgence. This recipe is ideal when you’re busy (hello December!) and you’re looking for a quick dish that you can still serve to friends and relatives to celebrate the season.

You could of course use fresh figs here, but we’re heading out of fig season now and these Figs in Courvoisier from Opies don’t just bring a gimmicky posh factor, but give the tart a genuinely lovely depth and richness of flavour, and my goodness the fragrance that fills the kitchen while the tart is cooking?…heavenly! While these figs aren’t as readily available as other Opies products, you can get them in some independent shops and delis, and also online.

Ingredients

• Ready-rolled puff pastry
• 3-4 Opies Figs in Courvoisier sliced
• About 1 tbsp blue cheese in crumbly chunks (I used Cropwell Bishop for its creaminess)
• 1 tsp pine nuts
• Half a small radicchio, sliced
• 1/4 red onion sliced
• 6 slices prosciutto
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Egg (for an egg wash)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (or 200°C Fan).
2. Roll out the puff pastry.
3. In a bowl, drizzle olive oil over the red onion and radicchio slices and season with salt and pepper, stir them so that they’re coated and then lay them over the tart base so that they cover all but the edges. You want these to be clear to get a lovely crispy risen edge. Dot the fig slices around on top. Brush some egg around the edge of the pastry and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.
4. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until you can start to smell their aroma and they’re turning only slightly brown.
5. When the tart is cooked, get it out of the oven and sprinkle over the toasted pine nuts, the crumbled blue cheese and the prosciutto. I wound the prosciutto slices into little roses that I places in the middle of each piece once sliced, but you could lay them over the top however you wish, or cut them up to spread them around a little more.
6. Serve warm with some greens!

GIVEAWAY – Christmas Hamper from Opies

I’m so excited to be partnering with Opies to bring you the chance to win some delicious Christmas food goodies perfect for your Christmas hamper! Opies have been selling their pickles and preserves since 1880 and have kindly provided some Christmas fruits in Courvoisier, Stem Ginger in Famous Grouse Syrup and some Pickled Walnuts – a Victorian delicacy!

You can enter on Facebook or Twitter by following my blog’s page and Opies’s page and sharing this post on your feed – it couldn’t be simpler! You have until midday Friday 16th December when entries will be counted and one winner chosen, but why wait – enter now for your chance to win some delicious treats!

Terms and conditions:

• To enter using Facebook, you must like the A Year in Dinners and Opies Facebook pages and share a link to this blog. Entries must meet these conditions when the competition closes on 16th December.
• To enter using Twitter, you must follow @lizibeevor and @OpiesFoods and share or retweet a link to this blog. Entries must meet these conditions when the competition closes on 16th December.
• Entries will close at midday on Friday 16th December and a winner announced on Saturday 17th.
• Entries will be collated from both platforms and one winner chosen. Only one entry per person per platform will be counted.
• This is a UK only competition as the prize can only be shipped to a UK address.