Feeling fig

The title of this post should be "feeling fit" as I was due to run in the Royal Parks Half Marathon tomorrow... but, I've had cold and been feeling very sorry for myself for the last couple of days. I slept for 11 hours last night to try and get over it and it has almost done the trick but I know I am not fully fit. But in case I make a miraculous recovery, I've taken it very easy today, been drinking lots of water, and made myself a lovely pasta dinner to give me my energy boost for tomorrow.

I have a passion for figs, usually served with prosciutto or serrano ham and shavings of parmesan then drizzled with a lovely balsamic dressing in a salad, yum. I had never thought of putting them with pasta until I discovered this dish in the River Cafe Pasta & Ravioli pocket book. The combination of lemony cream, caramelised fig and slight hint of chilli is quite delicious.

Tagliatelle with fresh figs and chilli - serves 4

350g dried egg tagliatelle

8 black figs, stalks removed, cut into quarters

2 dried red chillies, crumbled

zest of 2 lemons

juice of 1 lemon

100ml double cream

50g freshly grated parmesan

extra virgin olive oil

Here's how:

Mix the lemon zest and juice into the cream and season. Cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a frying pan large enough to hold the figs in one layer. Add 2 tbsps of olive oil and when smoking, place the figs in the pan, turning them immediately to caramelise on each side. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the chillies ans season.

Drain the pasta, return to the pan, then stir in the cream mixture and toss together. Add the figs and serve with the parmesan sprinkled over.