Nothing quite beats drizzling honey over freshly sliced figs except the accompaniment of mangoes and toasted pine nuts. This fresh fig salad epitomises the summer months and is perfect for those long lunches under the warm sun. All done in under 15 minutes too!
Cut the ends off the figs and slice. Each fig should yield about 4-5 slices.
In a small mixing bowl, add the mixed leaves, 1 tsp of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss until well combined.
In a small fry pan, dry toast pine nuts for about 1 minute or until golden brown.
Chop chervil leaves to yield 1 tbsp.
Mango Puree
Extract all the flesh from the mangos.
Add mango and 1 tbsp of olive oil into a food processor and puree.
Assembly
If possible, serve on a plate or platter with a bit of a lip, so the puree doesn’t run.
Put the puree on the plate. Pick up the plate and swirl it so that it is evenly distributed.
Add the mixed leaves on top.
Then add the pine nuts.
Place the sliced figs on top in the middle. Don’t place all over the plate as you want to allow the mango's bright colours to be seen.
Sprinkle with chervil.
Drizzle honey all over the figs.
Season with cracked pepper.
Serve.
Video
Notes
If you’re able to, purchase the figs the day you’re making the salad. Or at least the day before. You want them to be as fresh as possible as they are the showcase for this side dish.
Any mixed leaves will do. Just make sure they are soft and delicate rather than crunchy. Arugula would work nicely with this salad if you want to offset the sweetness and provide some peppery notes.
Pine nuts can be replaced with any nut such as shaved almonds or crushed pistachios.
For additional crunch factor, add some sunflower seeds or pepitas.
The choice of mango is entirely up to you. I chose the less sweet variety for this recipe as the figs and honey were already on the sweet side. I selected mildly tart mangoes.