Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Peaches with Aged Balsamic and Piave Vecchio Cheese
In my book, bacon-wrapped anything is good. Here crisp bacon and juicy peaches strike a perfect balance of salty and sweet. It’s hard to beat a fresh-picked slurpy peach, but these little bites are a sexy way to dress up the luscious summer fruit, making for a sophisticated, beautiful small plate.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat a gas or charcoal grill until very hot. Here is a great tip to keep food from sticking to your grill: Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Pour some olive oil in a bowl and dip the wad of paper towels into it. Carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill; this will create a nonstick grilling surface.
Step 2
Lay the bacon on a cutting board. Set a peach wedge at one edge of each slice and roll up to enclose the peach. The bacon should wrap around the peach piece no more than one and a half times; otherwise it won’t cook all the way through. Put the peaches on the grill, bacon seam side down. Grill the peaches, turning often, until the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes.
Step 3
To serve, put a small pile of greens on each plate and arrange the peaches on top. I like to sprinkle them with a tiny amount of fleur de sel. Scatter the pecans on the plates, and use a vegetable peeler to shave cheese over the peaches. Drizzle with balsamic and olive oil. The peaches are terrific hot or at room temperature.
Ingredient Notes
Step 4
Freestone Peaches
Step 5
Look for freestone peaches, not clingstone. The pit pops right out of freestone peaches, while clingstone literally cling to the pit, making it hard to remove. If you can’t find freestone, get the clingstone but just carefully cut around the pits with a paring knife.
Step 6
Toasting Nuts
Step 7
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, checking the nuts periodically, until they are fragrant and lightly toasted, 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of nut. For example, pine nuts toast faster than pecans.
Step 8
Piave Vecchio Cheese
Step 9
Similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano, Piave Vecchio is an aged cow’s milk cheese from Italy but without the granularity. Its unique sweet and nutty flavor makes it a great addition to any cheese platter.
