Ricotta Bruschetta with Smoked Prosciutto and Peaches
Peaches really are a flavor of summer and are readily available at the moment. They're delicious on their own and in light summer desserts. However, I’ve only recently discovered their use in savory dishes. Man, I wish I’d known sooner...
Pork and peaches are, I’ve recently found out, a tried and tested combination. It makes sense- pork and apples are fantastic together, ham and melon as well . Pork seems to pair well with sweet flavors and I wanted to come up with a recipe that not only yelled “SUMMER!!” but also made the most of some great ingredients.
I stumbled across a recipe recently for a salad of prosciutto, grilled peaches and fresh mozzarella with basil. It sounded amazing and with my adoration for Italian food it got my brain ticking. I wanted to make something light, summery and yet wasn’t a salad... so bruschetta it was!
I went out to the shops and bought some lovely sourdough bread, still warm, from a local bakery. Some fresh peaches came next, but then I found some smoked prosciutto in my local supermarket. Why not! That should work I told myself.
I started to look for some mozzarella but as I was looking my eyes stumbled upon a tub of ricotta. Now I love ricotta and thought to myself that it could well replace the mozzarella and form a lovely base for the bruschetta. My mind was made up
Now I hadn’t really thought much about color or texture. Keeping in touch with the Italian theme, a sweet and tangy basil oil would work well and some toasted hazelnuts for some crunch. Perfect. I found my ingredients and hurried home to get started.
 |
| Most of the ingredients! |
It was fun putting the plate together! The colors were wonderful, and I loved the contrast between the dark crust of the sourdough, the bright white of the ricotta and the vibrant pink, orange and green of the toppings. I hope you have as much fun making this one as I did!
The taste was wonderful! Smoked prosciutto was a good choice balancing well with the dark caramelization of the peaches. The ricotta worked beautifully, tying all the flavors together and there were pleasant surprises of sweet and sharp basil oil, peppery rocket and the odd bite of toasted hazelnut. All together it made a lovely lunch and one I’m looking forward to making for any friends or family sometime soon!
Ricotta Bruschetta with Smoked Prosciutto and Peaches
(Serves three as a starter)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1tsp lemon juice
- 3 medium-sized peaches
- 6 slices of smoked prosciutto
- 3 thick slices of sourdough bread
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Heat a dry frying pan on medium heat and add the hazelnuts. Gently toss until evenly browned and a nutty aroma fills the kitchen (taking care for them not to catch). Once cool, roughly crush and put aside.
- To make the basil oil add the basil, olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar and pulse in a food processor until roughly blended. Add salt and pepper to taste and put aside.
- Halve the peaches.
- Add some olive oil to the pan on medium heat and place the peach halves face down in the pan. Leave them be, checking occasionally that they are caramelizing and not catching. Once turned a deep golden brown, flip and cook until caramelized on the bottom. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool a little.
- Once cooled slice 3 of the halves into six equal rectangular sections and save the other halves.
- Toast the slices of sourdough in the pan with a little olive oil and spread a third of the ricotta over each slice. Top with a few rocket leaves.
- Place two slices of smoked prosciutto on each bruschetta. To each add 2 of the neatly sliced peaches. Add the other 3 halves of the peaches to the plate as you please.
- Generously spoon the thick basil oil over the dish and the bruschetta followed by sprinkling the toasted hazelnuts on top.
- The dish works well with a fruity white wine with vanilla and peach notes!
Comments
Post a Comment