Recipe - Fresh Fig Mascarpone And Pesto Torte

FOR CRUST
1 cup Finely ground wheat crackers
such as wheat thins
One half cup Pine nuts; toasted until
golden, cooled, and ground
fine
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter; melted and
cooled

FOR FILLING
1 One fourth pound Cream cheese; softened
One half cup Mascarpone or sour cream
3 lg Eggs
1 One fourth cup Prepared basil pesto
2 pound Firmripe fresh figs (about
16 large), 1 pound cut into
one quarter inch thick
slices
One half cup Fig preserves
1 One half tablespoon Whitewine vinegar

ACCOMPANIMENT
Baguettes cut diagonally
into thin slices and
toasted lightly

Make crust:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 10inch spring form pan. In a bowl
with a fork stir together crust ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.
Press mixture into bottom of pan and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes, or
until lightly browned.

Make filling:

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together filling ingredients and salt
and pepper to taste until very smooth.

Assemble torte:

Pour half of filling into crust. Drop dollops of pesto over filling and
spread carefully to form an even topping. (Some filling may show through.)
Top pesto layer with half of fig slices, overlapping them slightly, and
pour remaining filling over figs, spreading evenly. Bake torte in middle of
oven 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until top is golden brown and set. Cool
torte in pan on

a rack (filling will deflate slightly). Chill torte, covered loosely, at
least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

In a small saucepan stir together preserves and vinegar and bring to a
simmer. Remove pan from heat and cool mixture. Stir in salt to taste.

Slice remaining pound figs into 1/4inch thick slices. Run a thin knife
around edge of pan and remove side. Spread torte with preserves mixture,
leaving a 1/4inch border, and top decoratively with remaining fig slices.
With 2 large metal spatulas transfer torte to a serving plate. Serve torte
at room temperature to spread on toasts.

Yield: 16 to 32 as an hors d'oeuvre

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL8977

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #846 by "Angele and Jon Freeman"
jfreeman@netusa1.net on Oct 14, 1997