This was sort of an impromptu appetizer I served at my birthday party* the other night. I had some really nice quality fig jam which made me crave a salty-sweet-treat appetizer to go along with a bottle of prosecco. I’m familiar with the idea of fig and gorgonzola crostini, but since I’m not a fan of gorgonzola (I know, I just lost a few readers), I got stuck on the idea of creamy ricotta instead. I caramelized tiny onion slices with balsamic, assembled the little bites, and sprinkled fresh thyme leaves and lemon zest on top. This turned out to be a super delicious combo… Rich, light, sweet, salty, tangy, and earthy. And a special brightness from the lemon zest. (there’s a reason this site name is what it is – it’s my opinion that a squeeze of lemon or a bit of lemon zest is always a necessary finishing touch.) It was only as we started eating this that I realized had made a really snobby version of probably my favorite childhood snack: crackers & cream cheese & jelly. (As in… processed butter crackers, cream cheese, and artificially purple colored “grape” jelly). My mom is going to laugh reading this because she probably never imagined I’d be “perfecting” that concoction with things like caramelized onions and thyme leaves which were unheard of (by us) back then. *party = me and Jack… parties of 2 are the best kind, right? Inspired by a combo of recipes from Food 52 and Cooking Light
