Char-grilled Peaches with Mascarpone, Honey and Hazelnuts

Peaches are here! Now summer can begin, yes?

I really should have waited until it was actually summer before buying them though, because the ones in the shop the other day were less than summer-ready. As you can see below they were a little on the under-ripe side. They are also clingstones (I prefer the freestone kind with the red hearts) which means that I had a bit of a job getting the stone out without further bruising the fruit - I was unsuccessful in this exercise. 

Nevertheless, it did not really matter because what I had in store for them was going to save their rosy behinds. 

Saving peaches is a task that I am happy to undertake.

The number 1 issue with these guys was the slight greenness to them. By grilling them, the cut surface caramelises and underneath the charred tiger-stripes the flesh becomes softer and sweeter. It smells amazing.

The olive oil and thyme make this interesting straight off the bat. I have a jungle of herbs doing their thing out the back so I try to think of ways to use them whenever I can. I only used a small amount of thyme; by soaking a sprig of it briefly in the oil and using it to brush over the peaches I was able to get the subtle background flavour that I was after. The few leaves stuck on there did not go astray either.

Let’s get to the honey part: Recently I bought a jar of The Urban Beehive honey which is collected from hives around urban Sydney. To me, the best thing about this honey is that it is made by wild bees that have been captured to populate the hives instead of purchased bees from a breeder or from overseas. This means that the wild bee genetic lines can be protected and become resilient to introduced viruses and other nasties. It is also raw and unfiltered which makes for some extra tasty and complex honey. I also just really love the idea that this was made so close to where I live. I am a little obsessed with honey (in case you were wondering) and I always have been. Growing up, my friend had hives in her backyard and her parents would jar it themselves. I have always thought how cool this was and hope to be able to do this myself one day. This honey went perfectly with the peaches and thyme. I would also be open to drizzling it over some blue cheese in the not too distant future. 

Have I mentioned how quick this is? If you stop to photograph each step, it will take you longer (no, really?!) – lucky for you I have already taken care of that. From go to whoa the whole thing took around 15 minutes (including assembling the ingredients) – we spent two of those minutes demolishing them. Not a bad last minute dessert if you are in a pickle.

This is so simple, it is barely a recipe - more like an assembly of awesome ingredients all working to save some peaches that just needed a chance.

Char-grilled Peaches with Mascarpone, Honey and Hazelnuts

Adapted from this recipe by Emeril Lagasse 

Serves 2

2 ripe peaches, halved, stones removed

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, enough for brushing over peaches

1 sprig of thyme

4 tsp mascarpone cheese, divided among the 4 peach halves

Approx 1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped 

Preheat a griddle pan (or barbecue) to medium high.

Dip the sprig of thyme in the olive oil and use it to brush over the peach halves. Pull a few leaves off the sprig and place them on the cut side of the peaches - they will stick to the olive oil. 

Place the peach halves face down on the griddle and cook until they are charred - they should have dark char lines on them.

Take the peaches off the griddle pan and place on a serving platter or board.

Place a teaspoon of mascarpone in the centre of each peach half.

Drizzle over the honey and scatter over the hazelnuts.

Garnish with additional thyme leaves.

Serve immediately.