“Pesto, or (to refer to the original dish) pesto alla genovese, is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) or Pecorino Sardo (cheese made from sheep’s milk), all blended with olive oil.” en.wikipedia.org
So… Almond Pesto? And throw some peaches in there, too?
Why not?
This Peaches With Almond Pesto dish is whatever you want it to be. It can be a salad. It can be a dessert. It could be that guilty pleasure of a dish you trundle to the refrigerator for at 2 a.m..
Here is the recipe.
Peaches With Almond Pesto
Ingredients
- For the Peaches
- 1/2 C. extra-virgin olive oil
- 20 fresh sage leaves
- 1/2 t. salt
- 3 medium perfectly-ripe peaches
- 1/4 C. amaretto
- 1 1/3 C. Almond Pesto
- For The Almond Pesto
- 2/3 C. raw, whole almonds
- Zest of 1/2 orange
- 1/4 C. Parmesan cheese (Cut into small rough pieces)
- 1/4 t. chili flakes
- 1/4 t. nutmeg
- 1/4 t. salt
- 2 t. honey
- 1/2 C. orange juice (divided)
- 1/2 C. extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
- 1 T. lemon juice
Directions
- Step 1 To make the pesto, toast the whole almonds in a skillet over medium heat for about 2 or 3 minutes. The almonds should be fragrant when they are roasted. Cool almonds to room temperature.
- Step 2 Combine the roasted almonds, the orange zest, the Parmesan, the chili flakes, nutmeg and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is coarsely chopped.
- Step 3 Combine the honey, half the orange juice, half the olive oil and all of the lemon juice in a container and whisk to mix. With the motor of your processor running, stream the honey mixture into the almond mixture.
- Step 4 Spoon the almond/honey mixture into a bowl and stir in the remaining orange juice and olive oil. Set this “pesto” aside for at least an hour to let the flavors mix.
- Step 5 To finish and serve the dish, heat olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the sage leaves in the hot oil. The sage leaves will curl up slightly and take on a crispy texture when fried and they will turn a pretty green. Drain the leaves on paper towels and set aside.
- Step 6 To assemble the salad, slice (but don’t peel) ripe peaches into wedges. Toss them with amaretto. To plate the salad, put a generous dollop of almond pesto in a bowl, plate or wide-mouthed glass. (If your pesto is too thick, stir in some additional olive oil.) Arrange the peaches artfully on top of the pesto. Drizzle a generous amount of pesto over the peaches. Arrange the fried sage leaves on top of the peaches. Serve at room temperature.
This recipe is adapted from one that appears in Vivian Howard’s cookbook Deep Run Roots. The cookbook is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
