In our garden in Tuscany we had a big fig tree full of fruit. Most of it was over ripe and feeding the birds by the time we arrived but we managed to salvage some figs.

The ones we didn’t eat fresh, I turned into this lovely jam, which can be eaten on toast for an indulgent breakfast or paired with cheese or cold meats for a lovely Tuscan aperitif. It also provided an excuse to use some more of the lovely rosemary that was growing in the garden.

I made a very small batch of jam, because I didn’t have enough figs, but the quantities below will make a decent batch 🙂

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped figs (no need to peel them)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup sugar (or replace the half cup of honey for half sugar, for a total of 1 cup sugar)

Rind of one lemon, thinly sliced (white bits removed)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 sprig of rosemary

1/2 glass of water

How to:

1.- Place the figs, lemon rind, honey and sugar in a pan. Let them sit for a while (approx. 20 minutes) so that the figs let out some of their juices.

2.- Place the pan on a low heat, add the water, rosemary and lemon juice. Stir to mix all ingredients.

3.- After 20 minutes your mixture will look a bit like this:

4.- You just need to be patient and let it cook, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Check it every so often, in case you need to add a bit more liquid. The amount of liquid in your jam will vary depending on how juicy your figs were. My figs were a bit dry and so my jam never got as runny as some do.

After 45 minutes your figs should be soft and beginning to go mushy. Again, depending on the type of fig, they may go completely mushy or keep their shape a bit. In any case, they can still be eaten on toast and are delicious.

5.- After an hour or so, your jam should be ready. To know whether it is, take some jam and put it in a plate. Once it is cold, push your finger through the jam on the plate. You are looking for it to wrinkle and not flood back into the gap.

6.- Let it cool and enjoy with toast!

Remember to keep it in the fridge!