One of my good friends came over for an afternoon of cheese eating (what else could one want?!) and I wanted to make something to go with the cheese.
Thinking about what I could make as an accompaniment, I remembered having this amazing chutney with a cheeseboard at this beautiful vineyard on Waiheke Island in New Zealand a couple months back (far far away from Dubai, but totally worth the trip, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had). From what I recall, it could have had fig and onion in it – whatever it was, I thought I must make a chutney to eat with cheese. MUST! And it must have fig and onion in it – once I’ve made up my mind, it’s very difficult to change it.
Luckily, when I wandered into my supermarket, there was one last packet of fresh figs left – fate or what? I happily skipped home (I lie, I walked home) and then proceeded to make this chutney, fully not knowing if it will be edible or not. As it turns out, it was edible! So without any further interruptions, the recipe:
Ingredients:
Full disclosure, since there was only one packet left of small figs, this recipe makes about half a jar of chutney.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
One small red onion chopped into little pieces
8 small figs – roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of sugar (if you want it to be sweeter)
¼ cup of aged balsamic vinegar
Instructions:
- Heat up the olive oil in a small pot, and under medium heat, add in the chopped red onions – leave for 10-15 minutes until soft, slightly browned and starting to caramelize
- Add in the chopped figs and if desired, add in sugar. The figs I had used were quite sweet, and if I could have changed anything, I would have added is less sugar.
- Also to note – the figs I used were very ripe, so it did not take long for them to get soft – I left it all in for about 10 minutes, then I added in the balsamic vinegar. I could have added in the balsamic vinegar earlier than this.
- Once the balsamic is in, leave it again for about 10 minutes and taste as it goes. Once you are satisfied with the results – there you go! Chutney for your cheese (or whatever else you want to eat it with)
Eating With Ayla 