Sweet-Savory Apple-Fig Tart with Gorgonzola and Honey

A seasonal treat to mark the end of summer and the first days of fall

It’s finally fig season in our backyard! We never know when our figs will come in. Some years, they ripen by the end of summer, other years, they never ripen at all—if August is chilly and we don’t get a blast of heat in September, they just never get plump and sweet. This year was especially strange; some of the fruit turned purple in mid-August, but those figs had no juice at all in them and were hard and inedible. But now that we’re getting a good late-September heat wave, our tree—a large, sturdy thing of unknown variety that we inherited when we bought the house—is producing a few juicy, sweet fruits every day.

Once the figs start to ripen, it’s a daily race against time to beat our neighborhood squirrels. The little buggers like to take a couple bites out of a perfectly ripe fruit and leave the rest to rot. If I’m quick, I can get about half the fruit before they sink their teeth into them, which feels like an equitable balance. My daughter and I usually just eat all the figs as soon as we pick them; sometimes we set them aside to put into her school lunches or add to morning yogurt bowls.

This week, however, I decided to use them for something fun and pair them with the other big flavor of the season: the first apples of the fall. (Here in the Bay Area, we actually get apples starting in the middle of summer, but they only start showing up in the markets once the school year begins.) Because we were dipping lots apples into honey this week, I thought I’d make a sweet-savory-salty puff pastry (read: quick and easy) tart by pairing all this gorgeous fruit with some caramelized onions and adding some sharp gorgonzola, to balance out the sweetness. I also added some walnuts, and when everything came out of the oven, I drizzled on a little bit of honey. The result tasted like fall on a plate. It would make a perfect appetizer or snack if you have friends coming over; I just ate half of it by myself as a fun dinner.

Apple-Fig Tart with Gorgonzola and Honey

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt
2 sweet-tart apples, such as empires or Fujis
Granulated sugar
All-purpose flour, for dusting
½–¾ cup crumbled gorgonzola
2 figs, cut into wedges
Scant ¼ cup walnut halves, chopped (optional)
Honey

1. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and set it aside to thaw.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a cast-iron pan (or similar) of high heat, then add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook the onion on high, stirring constantly, until it is beginning to soften and some of the edges are beginning to brown.

3. When the onions start to brown, turn the heat down to medium, add a splash of water to the pan and mix it into the onions; this will help them soften more quickly and will keep them from burning. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are nicely wilted and browned, about 20 minutes; if needed you can add another splash or two of water as you go, to keep things from burning. When they’re nicely soft and light brown, let them cook until they start to release sugars into the pan; you’ll see little “sparkles” of bubbles in the bottom of the pan when you move the onions. Remove the onions from the pan and set them aside; clean the pan.

4. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan and add the apple. Cook, stirring frequently, until the apple slices are soft and starting to brown. Add a couple big pinches of sugar (use multiple fingers) and cook, stirring pretty constantly, for a few more minutes, until most of the slices have nice caramelized brown sides or edges; some will become translucent. Remove the apples from the pan and set them aside.

5. Heat the oven to 350°F. When the puff pastry has thawed enough to unfold without breaking, open it onto a piece of parchment paper, roll it out to roughly 9”x12” (flouring your rolling pin as needed), and transfer it to a baking sheet. Spread the onions out on the pastry, leaving a border of about 1–2” around the edge, then arrange the apple slices over them. Scatter the cheese over the onions and apples and arrange the fig wedges on top. Sprinkle on the walnuts, if using.

6. Bake the tart until the cheese is melted and the edges of the pastry are puffy and flaky and lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Cut the tart into squares and drizzle on a little bit of honey to serve.

Photos: Georgia Freedman