Fig pasta

Fig pasta – yes you read that right! It may sound unexpected, but figs have long been paired with savoury foods like cheese and prosciutto, so why not pasta? Plant-based maestro Katie White shares this delicious recipe for using fresh figs.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  2-3

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g spaghetti
• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus extra
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped (or long red chilli)
• ½ cup basil leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
• 12-15 very ripe figs, quartered (see Note)
• 1 lemon, finely zested
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the garlic for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients (except the pine nuts), stir and simmer into a sauce, retaining some texture in the figs.
3. Drain the pasta and stir it through the fig sauce. Divide the fig pasta between bowls and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes, toasted pine nuts and extra basil leaves.

Note

Choose ripe figs that are soft and juicy enough to help create a sauce for the pasta.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.