millions of peaches, peaches for me
I have a new fruit obsession: peaches!
I used to despise them. My sister was always eating them growing up — the dripping, the stickiness, the smell, the weird fuzz on the outside. Why would I want that when I could have a fruit I already knew was delicious and safe (like APPLES)? And less drippy.
Last week, I was at my new favorite market, City Fresh, and the first thing that caught my eye was a mound of beautiful, plump peaches. I had to try a few. I bought two, thinking I could pawn them off at work if I didn’t like them.
Then it happened — I bit into the crispy, not-so-juicy (and still a little fuzzy) fruit I’d always hated. I was hooked.
This past Sunday, as I did my shopping, I bought three pounds at 49¢ a pound. It was too good to be true for my new addiction!
While reading through Bon Appétit this week, I realized the wonderful new cooking opportunities this opened. Fortunately, the August issue had a whole section of peach recipes, and one that caught my eye was Roasted Peaches with Amaretti Crumble.
My husband is allergic to coconut, so macaroons were out. I tweaked it to make an almond crumble instead — and it was a hit with our neighbors who came over for dessert!
Well, here’s to my first post. Bon Appétit!
Roasted Peaches with Almond Crumble 🍨
Recipe by: Cindy Mushet — adapted from Bon Appétit, August 2009
Ingredients
- 5 amaretti cookies (Italian macaroons; about ¾ oz total)
- (I used double the almonds instead)
- 3 tablespoons whole natural almonds
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 3 firm but ripe large peaches, rinsed, wiped clean of fuzz, halved, and pitted
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish.
- Combine cookies, almonds, flour, and sugar in a food processor. Using on/off turns, process until the cookies and almonds are coarsely chopped.
- Add the chilled butter and pulse until the mixture forms moist clumps.
- Place peach halves, cut side up, in the prepared dish. Spread topping over the surface of each peach half (about 1 generous tablespoon each), pressing lightly to adhere and leaving a ¼-inch plain border.
- Bake until the peaches are tender when pierced with a knife and the topping is golden brown — about 35 minutes.
- Cool slightly. Transfer one warm roasted peach half to each of six plates and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside.
