Autumn flammkuchen

For ➋

1 large puff pastry sheet

150 g crème fraîche

a few slices of pumpkin

½ red onion 

2 figs

100 g goat cheese

1 handful of walnuts

fresh rosemary

2 tbs honey

Spread Flammkuchen ingredients on the pastry sheet. Sprinkle some oil over it.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 200°C for approx. 20 m.

Asure (Noah's pudding)

For ➍
125 g barley or pearl barley (or a grain product like Ebly)
4 tbs rice
75 g sugar
1 ts vanilla extract (or 1 small package vanilla)
1 tbs custard powder (or 125 g drained chickpeas)*
water
8 dry apricots, soaked in water overnight, cut in pieces***
4 dry figs, cut in pieces***
4 tbs ½ cup raisins***
2 tbs cup walnuts, crumbled, for garnish

Boil the barley and rice in separate pans. Drain.
Mix barley, rice, chickpeas* and other ingredients*** (except walnuts), add some water**, and let cook for 30 m. Stir occasionally.
Pour into a large service bowl or individual serving bowls and let cool for 2 h.

*When using custard powder, mix it with 2 tbs of warm milk. Use Turkish asure powder instead. Adjust the sugar, as the asure powder is very sweet. Or use chickpeas to thicken.
**Any amount you see fit: the lesser, the thicker the pudding will become.
***Save some of the fruit to garnish the pudding.

This recipe is one of the oldest and best known desserts of Turkish cuisine. It is traditional to give some away to friends and family, and stems from a popular Middle East legend, echoed in the Bible. The feast is still repeated every year by the Islamic community. The recipe uses the age-old habit of making sweets with beans and cereals (instead of modern sugar) and dates back from at least the Ottoman times.
...5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, Noah was king of the city of Shuruppak. His was a trade empire, and he built a large trading ship. At that time, there was a raging flood and rainstorm. He and his family loaded animals, grain, fruit and beer on board. The rain continued for 40 days. Afterwards there was no land in sight for 7 days. They ran out of drinking water and since the sea was salty, they had to resort to drinking beer. They eventually landed on Mount Ararat, still one of the most spectacular sights on earth, now bordering the Armenian region of Turkey, close to the Iranian border. As a celebration for their survival, Noah made a pudding out of some cereals, dried beans and fruits for his family...
The image shows an old etching of Mount Ararat and the Lake Van.

Figs in syrup

For ➋
10 cl lemon water (1 lemon needed)
50 g sugar
1 tbs honey
½ whole clove
10 walnut halves
10 very fresh figs
10 cl plain yogurt
¼ ts vanilla
chopped walnuts

Cut a thin strip of peel about 5 cm long from lemon.
Squeeze juice from lemon. Add water to measure 10 cl.
In a small saucepan combine lemon peel strip, lemon juice mixture, sugar, honey, and clove. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Cook and stir until syrup is thickened and bubbly.
Remove from heat, discard clove and lemon peel. Cool slightly.
Insert 1 walnut half into each fig. Place stuffed figs in individual dessert dishes.
Stir together cooled syrup, yogurt, and vanilla. Spoon yogurt mixture over figs.
Cover and chill. At serving time, sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Pizza e fichi (pizza with figs)

For ➋
It's also a Roman style, to top the pizza bianco with figs, served on a bed of some gorgonzola dolce cheese and decorated with some thinly sliced prosciutto.

Fichi ai prosciutto (figs with prosciutto)

For ➋
10 ripe figs*
5 slices prosciutto*/**

Cut stems off figs and slice in half.
Grill the spliced figs lightly if wanted. Brush them with olive oil first. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary.
Cut prosciutto* slices in half.
Wrap prosciutto* around figs. (Secure with toothpick).
Drizzle some balsamico and oil over the bites if wanted: heat 2 tbs of balsamico until sirupy, beat 1 tbs of olive oil through. Grill the spliced figs lightly if wanted. Brush them with olive oil first. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary.
Serve with several* glasses of cool Moscato d'Asti.

*When not in love, use 2 figs and 1 slice of ham per person. 1 glass of Moscato will do.
**Parma or any good dry-cured ham e.g. Spanish jamon Serrano or Flemish Ganda ham.
Try the similar marinated mozzarella with figs & prosciutto.

Believed to be an aphrodisiac... (Picture from Plein Soleil, René Clément's magnificent, luscious movie of Patricia Highsmith's The talented Mr. Ripley, starring Alain Delon and Marie Laforêt.).

Marinated mozzarella (with figs & prosciutto)

For ➋
4 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
4 black peppercorns
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
a small pinch of salt
a small pinch of red pepper flakes*
100 g fresh buffalo mozzarella (cut into 2 cm cubes or buy small balls)**
4 ripe figs
2 slices of Parma or Ganda ham, at room temperature

Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes*. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove the rosemary sprig. Pour the oil over the fresh mozzarella. Let stand at room temperature for several hours. If (covered and) refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.**
Roll each mozzarella part and a bit of fig in a small slice of ham. Secure with a tooth pick if necessary. Or spread the ham over the plate and decorate with halved figs and mozzarella.
The salad variation: Have some mesclun leaves and some fresh mint ready. Wash figs, mint, mesclun. Dry with paper towel. Grill ham until crispy***. Cut marinated mozzarella or bocconcini into thick slices. Place mesclun leaves on plate. Top with wedges of figs, cheese slices and mint leaves. Dress with lemon juice and oil. Top with ham slices and season with cracked black pepper.
Serve with a cool glass of sparkling wine.

*Or paprika powder.
**Instead of marinating the mozzarella, you could use already marinated bocconcini.
***Optional.

Try the related figs with prosciutto.