This chunky relish is packed with strong sweet and salty flavours - an umami-burst in every mouthful. You can swap the figs for dates if you prefer their toffee-like smoothness to the grainy texture of the figs. It's delicious with salty goat's cheese or as a condiment to meats or a cheeseboard.

Preparation: 15 minutes plus 4 hours chilling
Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients

50g shelled pistachio nuts
175g dried, ready-to-eat figs
100ml water
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
70g pitted, dried black olives
Salt and pepper

Method

● Heat your oven to 200°C and roast the pistachio nuts for 5 - 10 minutes on a baking sheet until lightly toasted. Leave to cool.

● Chop the figs into roughly 1cm pieces and put them in a small, heavy-based pan with the water. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.

● Tip into a bowl, and stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and finely chopped rosemary.

● Chop the olives into roughly 1cm pieces, roughly chop the pistachio nuts and add them all to the fig mixture.

● Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. l Refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of four hours.

● Serve alongside cheese or dolloped on top of crostini spread with soft goat's cheese.

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