Fig & Spiced Goat Cheese Tart
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I would ALWAYS choose a cheese course over a dessert. With the except of maaaaaaaaybe key lime pie flew in from the freaking Florida Keys, if a cheese course is an option rather than dessert, I’m going with the cheese.
I guess I kind of break the mold that way. But in fact, in many countries around the world, meals are finished with a bit of cheese instead of something sweet.
But around here, most people are looking to satisfy their sweet tooth after dinner. I created this Fig & Spiced Goat Cheese Tart as kind of an olive branch between the cheese people (hi!) and the dessert people (you know who you are).
I started with a roll of store-bought pie crust, because hey, every home chef is allowed to take a shortcut now and again (I also often use store-bought crust for chocolate brownie pie).
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I blind baked the pie crust and then spread it with a whipped goat cheese mixture spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, orange zest . . . and ground black pepper.
Just trust me on the black pepper. It’s the bridge between the savory cheese and the sweet figs. The sweet, ripe, juicy figs. Drizzled in honey. And sprinkled with pistachios.
Psst – buy a big package of goat cheese and try a sweet potato breakfast bake!
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Fig & Spiced Goat Cheese Tart
Ingredients
- 1 refrigerated pie crust
- ½ cup goat cheese 4 ounces
- ¼ cup cream cheese 2 ounces
- ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground black pepper
- Pinch ground cloves
- Pinch ground ginger
- 16 figs halved
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Press crust into 9-inch tart pan; cut off excess crust hanging over edge. Use fork to poke several holes in bottom of crust. Line crust with parchment paper; fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove pie weights and parchment paper; transfer crust to wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, place goat cheese and cream cheese in small microwave-safe bowl and microwave 15 seconds. Add orange zest, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and ginger and mash with fork until well combined.
- Spread cheese mixture evenly in bottom of cooled tart crust. Arrange figs over cheese; drizzle with honey and sprinkle with pistachios.
Lori, you are really hard on those of us who are trying to watch what we eat so that we don’t balloon into blimps… This tart sounds more like lunch to me, or perhaps a snack. And a wonderful one.
Uh oh! I’m so sorry. hahaha. Most of my recipes are designed to be shared, especially the sweeter ones. I send leftovers of all of them to work with Jeff. Another idea for a smaller portion is to skip the crust and just make a small amount of the spiced goat cheese to serve with the figs. It’s really all about that fig + cheese combo!