Gorgonzola Fig Crostini

Yesterday, I wrapped up some fun, low key Vday ideas. One of my favorite parts of the list? Staying home, cooking and eating together...but who am I kidding? This is never relegated only to Valentine's Day. Admittedly, this is one of my favorite activities. I also think that for a special occasion, it's nice to have multiple courses. Even if you start out with one small hors d'oeuvres and a glass of wine before dinner, it just makes the whole meal feel much more special. For this Valentine's Day dinner, I'm preparing a new find that I tested out for Superbowl and I have to tell you...it's pretty fabulous and destined to become a Humiston household staple. It's Gorgonzola Fig Crostini and mark my words, after one bite, you'll be hooked. It's no secret that I harbor a borderline obsessive love for all things sweet and savory and have been known to dabble in crostini from time to time. This recipe is the perfect way to fulfill both. And you may remember that I mentioned my new found taste for fig jam in January Favorites. I received more than a few questions about where to find it. Since I've been unable to find it for a reasonable price, I made my own. Scroll down for the super duper simple tutorial.

Gorgonzola Fig Crostini with Carmelized Onions
*Adapted from Recipe Girl
1/2 C Fig jam, at room temperature
4 oz Gorgonzola cheese (crumbled or soft), at room temperature
1+ tsp heavy cream, half and half, or milk
1 Baguette, sliced into thin pieces
1 large onion, sliced not diced
1 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper

Turn your baguette slices into crostini by drizzling with olive oil, salt and pepper and baking at 350 degrees for 5 minutes on each side. Separately, place gorgonzola crumbles in a mixing bowl along with a splash of desired dairy (whether cream or milk). I used merely a splash at a time just to hold the gorgonzola together so that it would be in spreadable, rather than crumbled form come spreading time. Place gorgonzola in a small dish and fig jam in another dish (again, if you can't find fig jam at your local grocery store, or simply do not want to pay $9 for a jar, scroll down for a tip on how to make your own) and crostini on a plate. In a small sautee pan, heat olive oil and add onions. Cook them on very low heat, stirring occasionally until they get brown, sweet, and delicious. Admittedly, when I made this last week, I did not give mine enough time to actually carmelize (which is why they are white in my photo, not golden brown). What can I say? The game was starting and I had to shake a tail feather. Though next time I plan to give 'em the full time the deserve, the onions were still soft and delish even if they weren't fully browned.

Put it all together:
Spread some gorgonzola on your crostini. Place a dollop of fig jam over the cheese. Top with a bit of carmelized onions. Enjoy!

And now for the Fig Jam tutorial. This was seriously so easy and so tasty. Let me know if you give it a try!
Fig Jam
*Adapted from Recipe Girl
1 C dried Black Mission figs
2 C water
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Kosher salt

Cut stems off of figs.

In a food processor, combine figs and lemon juice, pulsing until it looks like this:
In a saucepan, combine chopped figs, water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for a long time. The original recipe said 25 minutes, but after that time lapsed, mine looked like this:
Not exactly jammy, if you will. So I let it go for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally or when it looked like it was necessary. Essentially, you want it to reduce enough so that it's thick and spreadable, not watery like the above photo. After the second 25 minute simmer sesh, it was ready to go, looking gorgeous to boot:
I mean, really, doesn't that look good enough to eat? And yes, there are a LOT of seeds in this bad boy. But don't worry, you hardly even taste them or notice they're there for that matter, and that's coming from a bona fide seed-hater. So is that simple enough for you? I'm going to go ahead and assume that this will also be out of this world on a grilled cheese sandwich...

So that's my Valentine's Day hors d'oeuvre. It's pretty, chic and tasty to boot. Oh, and notice the deep red and soft white colors involved? It's really the perfect holiday treat.