Stuffed Baked Figs

I'm sure by now you have an understanding for my obsession with figs from my posts about the figs growing all over Cefalicchio and the wild fig trees in Puglia. One evening a friend, Kim, and I prepared a delicious vegetarian Italian meal for the two kind and hospitable directors of Cefalicchio. I was at a loss of what I should prepare for dessert. Meandering around the garden I got some serious inspiration from the plump and juicy figs just begging to be picked. So I made some stuffed figs and we served them with a dollop of fresh ricotta. The warmness of the figs was a wonderful textural and temperature contrast to the coolness of the ricotta. This dessert is simple to make and looks beautiful on a plate, however as you can tell from the picture, I need to work on making prettier dollops of ricotta.

Stuffed Baked Figs

Ingredients:
6 Ripe large figs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped almonds or walnuts
Honey, for drizzling
6 dollops of fresh ricotta

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash the figs and carefully slice off the stem. Then make an "X" shape in the top of the fig so that you can gently pull apart the 4 segments to stuff the figs while leaving the fig intact.
3. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts until combined.
4. Gently pull apart the 4 segments of the figs, stuff with the brown sugar mixture and then place the figs on a baking pan. Drizzle with a bit of honey. Bake in the oven until the figs are softened but still kept firm, about 5-8 minutes.
5. Serve warm on a plate with a dollop of fresh ricotta.