Celebrate National Peach Month with 5 delicious recipes you can make at home! The recipes below are courtesy of The Peach Truck. For more juicy goodness, check out their full cookbook here.
Summer Garden Pasta
Number of Servings: 8 cups
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces casarecce pasta
- 1tbsp. lemon zest
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp. minced shallot
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil, plus basil leaves for garnish
- ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
- 1 ½ cups multicolored cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup chopped peaches (about 1 medium)
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta; cook according to the package directions. Drain.
- Whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, shallot, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and whisk until emulsified. Add the pasta, chopped basil, pine nuts, tomatoes, peaches, and corn and toss well.
- Serve the pasta with a sprinkling of the basil leaves and Parmesan.
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
Number of Servings: 4
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
- 2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. The Peach Truck Jam (see recipe below)
- ½ tsp. fish sauce
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
- ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
Directions:
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts and cook, turning them occasionally, until browned and just tender, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk together the vinegar, jam, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Add the mixture to the Brussels sprouts in the skillet. Cook 2 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened slightly. Serve warm.
For Jam
Number of Servings: 6 cups
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 (1 ¾ ounce) package less-sugar/no-sugar needed pectin
- 4 ½ cups peaches, peeled, pitted and finely chopped (about 5 medium)
- 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp. ascorbic acid (such as Fruit Fresh)
- 6 half-pint jars with lids
Directions:
- In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup of the sugar with the pectin.
- Combine this mixture with the peaches, lemon juice and ascorbic acid in a medium sauce pan
- Bring this mixture to a hard boil over high heat (meaning the mixture will not stop bubbling when stirred) as you continually stir. Slowly add the remaining 3 ½ cups of sugar, a third at a time (so as not to reduce the temperature of the jam) until all sugar is dissolved before adding more.
- Once all the sugar is added, bring the mixture back to a boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat, skim off any foam with a metal spoon, and carefully ladle into the sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Wipe the jar rims of any jam and screw on tops.
- Prepare a hot water bath for canning. You can do this in a hot water bath canner or in a deep pot with a cooling rack inside. Immerse the jars, on top of the rack, in the boiling water to cover 1 to 2 inches about the top of the jar lids. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from water; let stand at room temperature until cool.
White Pizza with Peach, Pancetta, and Chile
Number of Servings: 4
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound prepared pizza dough
- 1 Tbsp. fine cornmeal
- 2 ounces pancetta, diced
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil, plus whole leaves for garnish
- All-Purpose flour, for dusting
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese (preferably low moisture) shredded
- 1 medium peach, pitted and cut into wedges
- 1 Fresno chile, thinly sliced
Directions:
- Remove the pizza dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 30 minutes to come to room temperature.
- Place a pizza stone in oven and preheat the oven to 500◦F. Line a baking sheet or pizza peel with parchment paper and sprinkle the parchment with the cornmeal.
- Line a plate with paper towels and set it nearby. Cook the pancetta in a medium skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until crispy. Drain on the paper towels, reserving drippings in the skillet. Add the shallot and garlic to the drippings; cook 2 minutes, or until softened. Add the cream and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Combine the ricotta, salt, pepper, and chopped basil in a small bowl.
- Stretch or roll pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Spread the cream sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border. Sprinkle the mozzarella over sauce Dollop the ricotta mixture over the mozzarella. Top with the peaches, chile slices, and pancetta.
- Transfer the pizza, still on the parchment, to the hot pizza stone. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the crust is browned and the cheese is bubbly. Remove the pizza from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with the basil leaves, slice, serve.
Polenta Pudding with Peach Compote
Number of Servings: 6
Ingredients:
- ½ cup finely-ground polenta
- ¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. salted butter
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 ripe peaches
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 3 cardamom pods
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
- Fresh mint for garnish (optional)
Directions:
- To make the pudding, begin by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. While whisking constantly, gradually add the polenta to the boiling water.
- Continue to whisk for one minute until the polenta thickens. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir as you whisk in brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt.
- Continue to cook over low heat, whisking often, until polenta is fully cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and heavy cream before vigorously whisking into the hot polenta.
- Transfer the polenta to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface. Refrigerate to cool.
- To make the compote, begin by peeling and pitting the peaches. Roughly chop the peaches and place half of them in a medium saucepan with the sugar lemon juice and spices.
- Cover the saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches have broken up, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining peaches, stir to combine and remove from heat. Let cool before removing the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom.
- Before serving, remove the pudding from the refrigerator to allow it to warm to room temperature.
- Stir it to loosen and smooth out any lumps. Beat ¾ cup heavy cream and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon budino into a serving dish and top with peach compote, a dollop of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh mint.
Peach Panzanella Salad
Number of Servings: 8
Ingredients:
- 8 fresh peaches
- 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- 1 lb. rustic sourdough or ciabatta loaf
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- 1 small shallot, minced (about 3 Tbsp.)
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp. dijon mustard
- ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Freshly-ground black pepper
Directions:
- Wash and pit the peaches. Cut into bite-sized pieces and place in a non-reactive mixing bowl.
- Toss the peaches with 2 tsp of kosher salt before transferring to a colander and placing that colander inside the bowl to collect juices.
- Set aside to drain, tossing occasionally, while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Preheat grill to medium-high. Slice the bread into 1-inch thick slices.
- Place garlic cloves on a cutting board and, using the broad side of a chef’s knife, press on the garlic to break them open a bit.
- Rub the slices of bread with the crushed garlic and brush lightly with olive oil. Discard garlic cloves.
- Place the slices of bread on your preheated grill and toast until both sides are lightly charred, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the grill and tear into bite-sized chunks.
- Remove the colander of peaches from the bowl of juice. Place the colander with peaches in the sink while you prepare the dressing.
- Add the shallots, vinegar and dijon to the bowl with the peach juice. Whisking vigorously, drizzle in the remaining olive oil.
- Combine grilled bread, peaches and dressing in a large bowl. Add the basil leaves and toss to combine before seasoning to taste with salt and freshly-ground pepper.
- Allow to sit for 30 minutes before serving, tossing occasionally, until the bread has absorbed all the dressing.