Tomatoes and Stone Fruit

This time of year where I live we have abundant home-grown, heirloom tomatoes, and local stone fruit. A few years ago, I clipped a recipe from the Wall Street Journal for a panzanella with both tomatoes and stone fruit. While it sounds sort of odd, the results are delicious. The original recipe calls for burrata, which is good and traditional, but we like it with soft goat cheese for the extra tangy flavor. The other adaptation we made was to brown the bread in a pan on the stove rather than in the oven which heats up the house more.

2 cups cubed sourdough bread or ciabatta
6 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1 large peach or nectarine cut into 1/2 wedges
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil
1 small shallot, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar or similar vinegar
2 balls burrata (or fresh goat cheese)

Toss the bread cubes with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Brown them in the oven at 375F or in a shallow pan on the stove then set aside.

In a large bowl toss the tomato, peach, and basil. Season with salt and pepper and let sit for 10 minutes (can be longer as well). Place the sliced shallot in some ice water for 8 minutes then drain and dry and add to the bowl.

When you are almost ready to serve, add the croutons to the bowl  with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the vinegar, and let sit for a few minutes while all the flavors blend and the bread absorbs some of the juice from the tomato and the peach or nectarine.

Serve on a plate with some burrata or goat cheese on the side.


The other peach recipe I have made recently is the peach and lime galette from Yotam Ottolenghi. You can find that recipe online or in The Guardian.