Ahh, it is National Peach Month once again! And we have a seriously overburdened peach tree. I am doing a peach happy dance and eating peaches at every meal! A typical peachy-keen kind of day is chunked peaches over ricotta cheese for breakfast, a whole peach along with my salad at lunch, some peachy cocktails before dinner (recipes coming later this month), a rosemary-mustard pork tenderloin with peach sauce (also later this month) and of course, peaches for dessert! With so many great peach recipes in my repertoire, it was hard to know where to start but I decided to go with my mother-in-law’s very wise philosophy of dessert first!

The peach tree is bursting with peaches this year!

There are a lot of peach desserts out there and in the 300 recipes I’ve blogged about in 285+ posts over the past 3+ years, I’ve done a few peachy desserts, but not near enough! (Click the recipe name for links to Peach & Blueberry Buckle, Peach Pie or Peach Bread Pudding.) Unlike the previous peach dessert recipes I’ve posted, this one is quick & easy, yet very elegant and delicious. We’ve served it to a variety of people we’ve had over for dinner and it always gets rave reviews.

With seven US states providing most of the domestically grown peaches, they are not hard to find from April through October. Locally grown produce is always tastier and our region is squarely in the August to September range for fresh peaches being ready. Just in time for National Peach Month!

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Mascarpone

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Mascarpone (adapted from foodnetwork.com)

Total time required: 15 minutes    Serves 2

We’ve used both mascarpone & ricotta. I prefer the mascarpone & Eric prefers the ricotta.

The recipe is easily scaled up for larger numbers of people. Plan on half a peach/person for large peaches and a whole peach/person for medium or small peaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 large peach, halved & pitted
• 4 tablespoons mascarpone or ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon honey for drizzling
• 4 mint leaves & 6 blueberries for garnish

Directions:
Spray the grill or a grill pan with Pam cooking spray. Over high heat, grill the fruit, cut side down, until marked and softened, about 3 to 5 minutes.

The peach halves take just a few minutes on the grill.

Chiffonade the mint leaves then sprinkle half of the mint leaves on the grilled sides of the peach. Dollop 2 tablespoons of mascarpone or ricotta onto each half of the peach then drizzle with the honey.

Mint, cheese then honey goes on each half of the peach.

Garnish the peaches with the remainder of the mint leaves and the blueberries, if desired. Serve immediately.

Simple, elegant and best of all, delicious!

A great way to celebrate National Peach Month!  ~Linda

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Mascarpone (adapted from foodnetwork.com)

Total time required: 15 minutes    Serves 2

The recipe is easily scaled up for larger numbers of people. Plan on half a peach/person for large peaches and a whole peach/person for medium or small peaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 large peach, halved & pitted
• 4 tablespoons mascarpone or ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon honey for drizzling
• 4 mint leaves & 6 blueberries for garnish

Directions:
Spray the grill or a grill pan with Pam cooking spray. Over high heat, grill the fruit, cut side down, until marked and softened, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Chiffonade the mint leaves then sprinkle half of the mint leaves on the grilled sides of the peach. Dollop 2 tablespoons of mascarpone or ricotta onto each half of the peach then drizzle with the honey.

Garnish with the remainder of the mint leaves and blueberries, if desired. Serve immediately.