Bocconcini, Tomatoes, and Peaches have made regular appearances on my menus for the past two months. The peaches this year have been unreal – juicy and sweet without the mush. It makes me so sad to see them disappear from the market stands. But before they are gone forever, I wanted to share this recipe with you. I’ve served this as a first course at a client’s dinner party, fully tossed as a side dish for an afternoon picnic, and skewered half of a cheese round, half of a tomato, and a peach slice on a toothpick, drizzled with the vinaigrette at a cocktail party for 100 people.
Every time people rave about it and I’m still not sure if it’s the peach or the vinaigrette or both that gets people so excited. I’m voting for the peach, but the vinaigrette is pretty darn good. In fact, I like it so much that I’ve used it to saute fresh green beans, on a chicken before roasting, and to spice up a pretty boring cous cous dish.
Ingredients
- 40 rounds of bocconcini, halved
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- 3-4 fresh basil leaves, cut into a chiffinade
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Kosher salt
- 40 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 peaches, peeled and cut into 40 one-inch pieces
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
- 3-4 fresh mint sprigs, plus more for garnish
- Wild Arugula
Directions
- Using a mini food processor or blender, combine the oil, red pepper flakes, basil, and garlic.
- Place bocconcini in a medium airtight container, cover with oil mixture, and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.
- Combine bocconcini, tomatoes, and peaches in a large bowl.
- Pour the oil mixture from the bocconcini into a mini food processor or blender. Add the lime zest and juice, the jalepeno and the mint leaves and combine.
- Toss the bocconcini, tomatoes, and peaches with the vinaigrette and serve over the arugula.
Notes: I buy the giant tub of bocconcini at Costco which come marinated in oil with “spices” according to the label and I use the oil from the tub (waste not, want not) in the vinaigrette. My tastebuds tell me that the oil contains garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, and a dash of salt, so I’ve written my recipe to include these ingredients. If you can find the marinated bocconcini, use it! It’s been swimming in oil and “spices” for who knows how long and makes for the most flavorful cheese.
What you’ll need: A mini food processor (or a regular food processor) or a blander and a large bowl
What you want to know: 1/4 cup of the bocconcini, tomatoes, and peaches after being tossed in the vinaigrette is approximately 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 3 WW points.
