I’ve been looking at how Christmas is celebrated with food in different countries and discovered a great sweet treat for the festive table. In Italy, they often combine dried fruits and nuts to create a sweet salami (so called because of its resemblance to conventional salami). A slice with a coffee is the perfect way to use up that leftover dried fruit.
What you will need
250g dried figs (soaked for a few minutes in recently boiled water with a splash of orange juice)
50g good quality dark chocolate
150g mixed nuts roughly chopped (I used a combination of pistachios and almonds)
Zest of half a lemon
Zest and juice of a clementine

Roughly chop the dried figs and chocolate in the food processor. Add the zest and juice of the citrus fruits and then whizz once more until you have a sticky paste. Stir in the mixed nuts, and knead the mixture to make sure that they are evenly distributed. Form three sausage shapes by rolling the mixture with cling film. Make sure you do this as tightly as possible to prevent it breaking up when you cut it later. Place the sausage shapes wrapped in cling film into the fridge overnight. Once refrigerated take the ‘sausage’ out of the cling film and place in a plastic bag with some icing sugar to give a dusting over the ‘salami’. Wrap in baking parchment and tie with butchers’ twine. Slice into 1cm thick rounds and serve with coffee.