I’ve been a peach purist until this summer. Peaches and cream, cobblers, and peach cakes have never been my thing. Plain ripe peaches with sticky hands and peach juice running down my elbows is more like it… so why mess with a good thing? Because it turns out that sometimes good things can be made even better.
The natural caramelized sweetness that comes out of these peaches straight off the grill is to die for. Paired with contrasting tastes and textures – spicy arugula, creamy fresh mozzarella, crunchy pine nuts, and herb-y pesto… complete perfection. This one has moved to the top of my list for favorite summertime dishes. It’s simple enough to put together for a light weeknight meal, but fancy enough to serve as a starter at your next dinner party… It’s sure to impress even your snobbiest of foodie friends.
serves 2 as a main course salad, 4 as a side
INGREDIENTS:
2 firm, yet ripe peaches
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups baby arugula
fresh mozzarella, sliced
a few dollops of pesto
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and chopped (in addition to the pine nuts for the pesto)
salt & pepper
mint & basil pesto:
1 packed cup of a mix of mint & basil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (you could also use walnuts instead)
1/2 garlic clove, roughly chopped
juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil (or more)
a few pinches of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
METHOD:
Slice the peaches into 6 segments per peach. In a small bowl, toss peaches with olive oil, balsamic, and just a small pinch of salt.
Heat your grill (or grill pan) to medium high heat and brush it with some oil. Place the peach slices on the hot grill and cook each side for 2-3 minutes without moving them (near the end you can gently peek to see how your grill marks are coming along). When your peaches are grilled, set aside and allow them to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile make the pesto. Combine all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse to combine. Add more oil for a smoother pesto, or leave it chunky – whichever consistency you prefer.
Toss the arugula with just a little bit of olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Assemble on a platter and top with mozzarella slices, peaches, dollops of pesto, and a few pinches of red pepper flakes. Squeeze just a bit of lemon on top and serve.
A few notes about grilling peaches: They will pick up the flavors of what you previously grilled on your grill. Depending on what that was, you may want to clean your grill well before beginning. Secondly, I experimented with 2 different grill pans – a cast iron (seasoned) grill pan and a nonstick grill pan. The nonstick one created “prettier” grill marks because the peaches stuck less. The seasoned cast iron pan imparted a hint of zucchini flavor from a previous dinner (that was surprisingly not awful tasting). Both ways, the peaches tasted wonderful.
Day=Made
I just found you blog from a pin and I almost high five’d my computer screen. Such beautiful photography and wonderful recipes. I could eat this entire blog, or just look at it all day, either way, its great!!
thanks Tiffany! glad I could make your day
Beautiful colors!
as usual, these photos are incredible. The colors are so amazing together. I would kill for a plate of this salad for lunch, right about now
Wow, Jeanine. You really hit it out of the park with this one. Almost every day, as I’m peeling my daily peach ration, I try to come up with some amazing recipe that would enhance their deliciousness, and not take away. Looks like you’ve done it!
this looks fabulous!
This sounds just lovely, as does everything you make!
Now THIS sounds like one of the greatest summer salads ever. Grilled peach and pesto–love it!
Such a beautiful salad! What’s that wine you drank with it?
Oh, I want to say it was a really refined pairing, but really, I keep a box of white wine (either Black Box sauvignon blanc or Bota Box pinot grigio) in my fridge that I call “weeknight wine.” Fancy, I know…
p.s. Showed this to my boyfriend and he immediately said we should make this for dinner!
This salad looks gorgeous! I can’t get enough of eating peaches so will definitely have to try your beautiful recipe
What a beautiful blog! Lovely post and recipe – this summer I will definitely have to try out this fragrant combination of flavours. Thanks for sharing!
Your mint and basil pesto looks really good! I just got turned onto pesto and I have a mint plant, so it sounds great to try. I actually don’t like peaches (or atleast I’m reluctant) but I’d love to try the pesto with Arugula. What else do you recommend it with?
Oh, and I love your pictures. Beautiful presentation!
Hi Justina,
I love pesto on so many things – pasta, salads (with any veggies you like). You can dollop it on eggs, put it over grilled veggies, scoop it on toasted bread… it’s endless really.
First of all, absolutely LOVE your blog, I love seeing emails coming in to notify me of new posts!!
Sob a question for you, I am away to my best friend in Australia for my holidays in September and I am planning on preparing a a special meal for her and her friends while there, this salad seems special enough to have as one of my salads (to be honest it’s going to be a very Love and Lemons heavy menu, I’m testing your Goats Cheese Brownies this week) now the way the menu is shaping up and the area she lives in I think it will have to be a barbecue, anyways long winded way of asking if barbecued peaches would be a good idea? Too smoky perhaps? Won’t get a chance to test on a barbecue before I go as Ireland is not really getting barbecue weather!!!
Hi Tara,
You’re so sweet, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed following
I grilled my peaches on a grill pan on my kitchen stove but they would work on an outdoor grill as well. You’ll need to oil your grill more because they’ll stick more. The smoky flavor would completely depend on what was cooked on that grill previously… that could impart a really good flavor into the peaches, or a not so great one depending on your personal preference. I would test out just a couple of peach slices to see if you really like the way they taste. If not, (and if they’re nice ripe peaches), you could just cut them up and put them on the salad non-grilled as a plan B.
This is one gorgeous salad! Wow! Love that you’ve paired the grilled peaches with salty mozzarella, spicy arugula and a mint pesto. I love everything about this dish! Hope you are having a lovely summer.
This was a first too for me, grilling peaches- amazing! We enjoyed them with a scoop of vegan ice cream – I love the combination of arugula, pesto and pinenuts – this is simply an amazing creation!
i have been thinking of this salad nightly, waiting for the perfect main dish to accompany. Now I have waited so long I am down to one tiny peach but I am making it anyway and I am thrilled. It’s gorgeous and you are so so fabulous!
I am in love with this salad! Gorgeous colours and photos!
Wow, that looks AMAZING. I’ve never tried grilling peaches before, but they look so delicious. I love arugula and I imagine that the flavours, along with the mozzarella and the mint pesto, would be incredible. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve just discovered your blog through Pinterest and am already hooked. Everything looks so appetising!
THIS PLATE! Silver-lined (literally)?
I’m sure it’s not real silver, it was from West Elm and not all that expensive
First encounter with your blog (via Oh the Lovely Things) and I’m already devouring your archives. Awesome!
thanks Mickey! glad you like
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