Grilled Peaches with Prosciutto

About 3 years ago, Steve and I celebrated our anniversary with a weekend at a resort in Sedona.  One of the nights there, we had an amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant just across and down the street from the resort, called Dahl and Di Luca.    As an appetizer, we ordered grilled peaches with prosciutto.   It was served warm, with a luscious balsamic glaze, and we both loved it.

Peaches are starting to show up at the grocery store and we love peaches!  I usually keep a couple white flesh peaches in the house during the summer because Steve sometimes likes to have one for breakfast.  But the local grocery store had yellow flesh peaches on sale and I remembered that wonderful dish from Dahl & Di Luca, so I had to get me some yellow peaches and prosciutto.

Grilled peaches with prosciutto are delicious and elegant as either an appetizer or side dish.  The velvety sweet balsamic glaze, with the smoky juiciness of the grilled peach go perfectly with the salty and buttery prosciutto.  Whoever first thought this up knew what they were doing, that’s for sure.

let’s make some grilled peaches with prosciutto

The dish we had in Sedona looked really simple, so I did not look for a recipe, but instead, tried to recreate it based on the flavors.

Unlike the balsamic reduction I made with my caprese skewers, I felt that this one needed to be less tart.  So, I added a tablespoon of honey.

I wanted to brush the flesh side of the peaches with a bit of oil so that they would not stick to the grill, and so that they would get some nice golden color.  I decided coconut oil would be great, because it adds a sweet nutty taste to the final product.

You start by making the balsamic glaze.  It will take about 25 minutes or so to reduce, and you want it to be cooled before serving.

Put the vinegar and the honey in a small sauce pan, bring to a low boil, then simmer until it becomes thick and syrupy.

Then transfer the glaze from the hot pan to a small bowl so that it will cool faster.  I hurried mine along by placing the bowl in the refrigerator before starting my peaches.

Next, cut the peaches in half and remove the stones.  This time of year will affect how you go about doing that.

This recipe can become more difficult if using cling peaches.  It is VERY hard to get perfectly cut halves from cling peaches.   Freestone peaches tend to mature later in the summer, I’ve read, so these early peaches that we are seeing are all cling peaches.

No problem.  If you don’t want to fight the peaches, use a sharp knife to cut the flesh from the stone, which is what I did.  Or cut off and grill wide wedges.

Brush the halves with coconut oil and season with salt and black pepper, if desired.  I think it tastes better seasoned because of that whole salty/sweet yin and yang thing.

Then place the peaches flesh side down directly on the grate of a grill, pre-heated to medium temperature.

Cook until the flesh has some defined grill lines and has a golden color.  Then flip and cook the skin side for a minute more.

Be careful not to overcook.  You don’t want mushy peaches.

Once grilled, assemble the dish right away.  Although you can eat it at room temperature, I enjoy it even more when the peaches are still a little bit warm.

Arrange the peaches on a serving dish, drizzle with the balsamic glaze, and arrange a prosciutto rosette in the center.

And voilà!  You have yourself a luscious appetizer.  Or side dish.  Or whatever role you want it to play on your table.  Because regardless of what course it is served as, the only important part is how amazing this grilled peaches with prosciutto dish tastes.

The peaches are cooked just enough to have some bite.  The balsamic glaze gives it a velvety sweet backdrop, while the salty prosciutto melts in your mouth.  Such a rewarding combination of flavors, and so easy to make!

I think I will try it with white flesh peaches next time!  Because, you know, I kinda have to make it again soon.  It was REALLY good.