Figs deserve stuffing like Hugo deserves a slap

My book club met last night to discuss our latest reading experience - The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Opinions of the book ranged from loving it to hating it, and it is filled with characters that you'd happily punch in the face so it was a lively discussion. As per usual the talking was interspersed with much eating as we all enjoyed the dishes that everyone had brought along to offset their opinions, be they sweet or sour.

Bookclub table of delights - chocolate fudge, stuffed figs, upside down cake, chocolate brownies, nibbles, spiced nuts, vegies, hommus and tahini, felafel, beetroot dip, cheese and crackers, Turkish bread, olives and a selection of wines.

My brain has been taking its sweet time returning to me from Melbourne these past few days, but luckily my daydreams yesterday started to shift from tennis back to food, and inspiration finally struck about what dish I should bring along - dates stuffed with blue cheese, and wrapped in prosciutto. It is not such a stretch to go from daydreaming about tennis to daydreaming about dates - have you noticed that tennis players are some of the few male athletes that have decent attributes in this area?

As it turned out, the shop that I went to get supplies only had small, disappointing, un-tennisy dates so I had to re-evaluate my recipe and got some dried figs instead. They also had gorgonzola on special so that made my cheese decision for me.

Gorgonzola Stuffed Figs in Prosciutto

Ingredients
Dried figs
Gorgonzola (chilled)
One strip of thinly sliced proscuitto per fig

Method
1. Make a small slice with a sharp knife down the side of each fig, then use your fingers to 'puff' them open to make room for the cheese.
2. Melt some cheese, put it into a piping bag, try to pipe it into the figs, realise what a stupid thing this is to do and how you've just made far more work for yourself, throw the bag into the sink and try another stuffing method.

Stupid AND disgusting! I hope my next piped icing doesn't taste of gorgonzola

3. Get small balls of the chilled cheese and poke them into each fig using a teaspoon, then tidy up the outside if necessary. Shake your head at how easy this is and why you thought piping would be clever.

Stuff that fig, stuff it good, stuff that figgy just like you should

4. Wrap each fig in a strip of proscuitto (I trimmed most of the excess fat off mine first), securing with a toothpick and sitting them in a tray with the slit side up.

5. Bake in a moderate oven for around 20 minutes or until you can't resist the smell anymore and have to try one.