Peach Caprese Toast with Pesto and Honey

Here comes stone fruit season!

We’re at the start of my favorite time of year: stone fruit season! There’s a lot to love about summer produce, but the part I most look forward to is the few weeks when I can get perfect apricots, peaches, cherries, and nectarines. Ideally all at once. Today’s recipes celebrates the start of the season by taking a popular twist on a classic summer salad—a caprese made with peaches instead of tomatoes—and adds a second twist by piling it all on toast so you can eat it in big bites without a fork, as a full meal. (And by “you,” I mean me, because I’ll be making this all summer.)

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The SNACKING DINNERS cookbook launched in April! Check out my events page for upcoming talks, signings, and pop-ups in the Bay Area, New York, London, and more!

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Like many of my favorite snacking recipes, this is more of a method than a traditional recipe: I don’t give exact measurements, because the amount you need is going to depend on the size of your bread, the size of your peaches, and how hungry you are. The list below makes one toast, but I usually make two for a full meal. And while I call for specific measurements here, you’ll almost certainly end up with a leftover slice or two of either cheese or fruit. (If you do, just pop it in your mouth as you cook!)

The one “cooking”-like thing you do for this dish is making the pesto drizzle. You can use either a homemade pesto (my favorite recipe is in my book) or a good store-bought version. Either way, you’ll likely have to thin it out to get it to drizzling consistency. I do this by adding a few drops of red wine vinegar, which gives the whole thing a nice pop of acid, then stirring in olive oil little by little until the dressing is very fluid. Once you’ve done that, all you have to do is toast the bread, slice up the fruit and cheese, and pile it all together.

Peach Caprese Toast with Pesto and Honey

Makes 1 toast (double for a full meal)

1 thick slice rustic bread
1 spoonful pesto (homemade or store bought)
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium very ripe peach
1 ball fresh mozzarella
Honey
Flakey salt
Small basil leaves for garnish (optional)

1. Toast the bread.

2. In a small bowl, mix the pesto with the vinegar, then drizzle in olive oil, stirring, until the pesto becomes a very thin, spoonable dressing. Set aside.

3. Cut the peach and mozzarella into thin slices; work your way around the peach pit if you want nice round circles all the way through.

4. When the toast is ready, shingle the peach and mozzarella slices on top, then drizzle on as much of the pesto sauce as you like and a few lashings of honey, and top everything with a big pinch of salt (and basil leaves, if using).

More Stone Fruit Deliciousness

The other stone fruit-based dish I’ll be making all summer is my favorite Tomato and Stone Fruit Breakfast Salad. If you want to make a snacky version chop everything up really fine and pile it onto toasted baguette like bruschetta:

Summer Breakfast Salad

Photos: Georgia Freedman (2)