Mix the cream cheese with three-quarters of the walnuts in a bowl, crumbling them between your hands and beating them into the cheese with a fork. Spread generously over the toast.
Cut a cross at the pointed end of each fig and open it out like a flower with your fingers. Drizzle olive oil into a pan set over a medium heat and add the brown sugar. Add the figs and fry the bases only, without turning them – you only want to cook the bottom of them. Watch that the caramel that forms in the pan doesn’t burn. Add the sherry vinegar and turn off the heat.
Arrange the hot figs on the toast and drizzle the hot vinaigrette from the pan over them. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and the slices of Serrano ham, then sprinkle the remaining walnuts over to serve.
RECIPES AND PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM SPANISH MADE EASY BY OMAR ALLIBHOY, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN POOLE (QUADRILLE, £22).
