Grilled Peach Salad With Burrata And Green Peppercorns

Happy New Year, folks!  Hope your festive season was fabulous.  Ours was! :=)  So, just to make life even more fun in 2025, I have joined another online Cookbook Club.  I chose a recipe from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky.  Here in sunny Queensland, stone fruit only grows in very limited areas (if at all), so it has to be sent up from down south.  And of course, that means they send it when it's hard as a rock. 

Alice's recipe using grilled peaches means that they are softened and caramelised, adding a wonderful flavour to this fruity, herby salad.  We ate it with leftover homemade fish cakes, and a small, chickpea salad.  All very delicious, and good for you.  

Is it sacrilege to confess that neither myself nor Mr P. had ever eaten burrata before?  And to be honest, we are both very happy not to eat one again.  I mean, it was fine, but nothing amazing.  I am not a cheese eater anyway, and the weird skin on the burrata was a wee bit offputting to me, and to Mr P.  Oh well, you have to try everything in life ... even chicken hearts, or tripe or pasta with tomatoes.  IYKYK!

Serves 4-6:

ingredients:

6-8 firm ripe peaches   see Notes

1 Tbs EV olive oil, for the grilling

Green Peppercorn Vinaigrette:

1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed a wee bit  (Mr P. banged it with his fist)

1 tsp green (or pink) peppercorns

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp mustard (I used wholegrain but Alice says Dijon)

1/4 tsp sea salt flakes

a few grinds of black pepper

1-2 dessertspoons EV olive oil (optional)

Final bits & bobs, (says Alice):

2-3 burrata balls, drained (weighing about 120g./4 oz each)  see Notes

1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped or torn (or leave whole, à la Alice)

2 Tbs chives, snipped or chopped finely

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

a good splash of EV olive oil over the whole shebang

Method:

Slice the peaches in half (down the seam), then rip out the stone

Brush each half with a wee bit of the olive oil, then place the fruit cut-side down on your nonstick grill pan - over medium heat - and let 'em sit and caramelise for 5-10 minutes (Mr P. did the grilling, and he said 10 minutes)

Turn them over, and allow them to warm briefly on the other side

Now on to the vinaigrette: put all the ingredients into a small bowl, and whisk away till well-mixed (yes, this is a tiny amount of dressing, but it does the job).  I added olive oil to it (Alice doesn't), to help it emulsify

Place your grilled fruit halves - sunny-side up - on a nice platter, then plop on the burrata, spoon the dressing over sans garlic clove, and scatter over the herbs, salt and pepper, and a big splash of EV olive oil

Notes:

I halved Alice's recipe for myself and Mr P., but I have given her quantities here for the full recipe

I bought the peaches when rock-hard, placed them in a brown paper bag for a couple of days to let them soften up a bit, then grilled them (after microwaving for 30-60 seconds)

Alice says to put alfoil and baking paper on the pan when you grill the fruit, but I didn't bother, and it was fine

Use nectarines instead of peaches, if you fancy

I didn't buy enough burrata, so I added some buffalo bocconcini too

ingredients gathered

split and de-stone the fruity halves

whisk up the vinaigrette

caramelised peaches!  Thanks Mr P.

throw on the herbs, after the EVOO goes on

I added a chickpea salad too

and a leftover homemade fish cake

c. Sherry M.