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A delicious fig and gorgonzola salad made with tangy cheese, cured meat, olives and a simple pistachio and balsamic vinaigrette. It’s vibrant, festive and full of incredible flavour plus it takes just 12 minutes to prep!
Sweet, jammy fresh figs are absolutely delicious paired with cured meat and tangy cheese. I chose to make them into a bright and vibrant salad with salty olives, bitter endive and a simple balsamic vinaigrette with chopped pistachios.
It’s such a delicious contrast of flavours, and the red and green colours are perfect for this time of year.
For an extra cosy feel, I like to melt the gorgonzola cheese on top of the figs for a few minutes. It adds warmth and texture that I love, but it’s an optional step. You can scatter cubes of cheese over the salad instead.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It- Figs: Make sure to use fresh figs for this recipe; dried figs won’t work here.
- Coppa (also known as capocollo): I’ve made this salad with coppa, prosciutto and culatello, and all work really well, so use whatever cured meat you prefer.
- Olives: I went with green olives for a pop of colour, but black olives will also work.
- Gorgonzola: I like to use gorgonzola dolce, which is creamier, but you can also use gorgonzola piccante, which has a much stronger flavour. If you’d rather not use gorgonzola, then Taleggio is another good melting cheese. Alternatively, goat’s cheese is a good option, but skip the melting step and just crumble it on top of the salad instead.
- Salad leaves: I love bitter leaves such as arugula (rocket) and endive, especially red endive/chicory, which gives the salad a bright and festive feel. The bitterness works really well alongside the sweet figs and tangy vinaigrette. You can go with mild salad leaves instead if you don’t want to go for a bitter option.
Recipe tips
Melting the cheese: if the salad will be served but not eaten straight away, like at a get-together or party, then you can skip the broiler/grilling step as the melted cheese will solidify once cooled. Instead, just scatter cubes of gorgonzola (or cheese of choice) over the salad.
Prepping in advance: you can prep the salad in advance and keep the vinaigrette in a separate bowl to drizzle over before serving. If you are melting the cheese with the figs, do this before serving too.
More delicious salads to try
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Fig, Gorgonzola and Coppa Salad with Pistachio Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 6 figs, cut in half
- 3.5 oz (100g) gorgonzola cheese, (cut into 12 cubes)
- 3 oz (80g) coppa (capocollo), (or other cured meat)
- 1 small chicory/endive
- 1-2 large handfuls arugula (rocket)
- 10 – 12 green olives
Pistachio vinaigrette
- ¼ cup (35g) unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup (65ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Juice of ½ a small lemon
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the grill/broiler.
- Put the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk them together until combined. Roughly chop the pistachios, then add them to the vinaigrette. Stir to combine, then set aside.
- Arrange the arugula and chicory leaves on a serving plate. Top with slices of coppa and olives, then set aside.
- Cut the figs in half and lay them on a baking tray. Grill (broil) for 5 minutes. Remove them from the broiler/grill and top each fig with a cube of gorgonzola cheese. Put them back under the grill (broiler) for about 1 minute, until the cheese has melted.
- Place the cheesy figs on the salad then drizzle over the pistachio vinaigrette. Serve.
Notes
- Storage and prepping: the salad is best eaten immediately. If prepping in advance, store the vinaigrette separately and melt the cheese just before serving.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
