Italian Cheese Trio With Panforte - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup hazelnuts
1 cup unskinned almonds
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 orange, zest of, grated
8 ounces dried figs, thinly sliced
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 1 1/2 lbs parmigiano-reggiano cheese (assorted Italian cheeses) or 1 1/2 lbs taleggio (assorted Italian cheeses)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0. Toast the hazelnuts and almonds on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant and lightly colored inside, about 15 minutes. Let cool, then chop coarsely. Reduce oven temp to 300\u00b0.
Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-in tart pan with a removable bottom.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, and orange zest. Add the nuts and figs and stir to coat.
In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and honey over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to medium and cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 245\u00b0 on a candy thermometer, 2-3 minutes. Immediately pour over the nut mixture. Working quickly, stir until the dry ingredients are coated; the mixture will be stiff. Transfer to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a wooden spoon dipped in cold water. Bake for 40 minutes. The mixture will still be tacky to the touch. Cool the panforte completely on a rack, then remove from the pan. Slice into 16 thin wedges. Pass the cheeses and panforte separately.