Grilled Peach Caprese Salad

Grilled Peach Caprese Salad is a whole new twist on a classic Italian dish.  Light and refreshing with a surprising sweet smokiness, this salad will be a hit at your next BBQ!

Even though the days are starting to turn cooler and the evenings have a crisp bite the air, I’m still holding on to the last remnants of summer.  Nothing says summer like fresh peaches and tomatoes. I plan to serve this salad on Labor Day as a last hurrah!

My husband recently brought home some beautiful peaches and tomatoes from a farm stand. I kept looking at them together in the fruit bowl on my kitchen counter and thinking that I wanted to eat them together. Then I remembered that my sister-in-law brought an amazing Peach Caprese Salad to a picnic this summer, and I knew that I wanted to replicate it.

Unfortunately, by the time I was ready to make my salad, my kids had pilfered all of the gorgeous, juicy peaches. I was undeterred, I went to my local farmer’s market to get more peaches, but they were not perfectly ripe, they were good, just not run-down-your-chin-juicy good.

Having good produce is essential for a Caprese Salad, so I thought, ‘What if I grill the peaches?’ I’m brilliant!

I love, love, love grilled fruit. Even watermelon! Check out my recipe for Grilled Watermelon and Shrimp Salad.

Just a few notes:

If the peach stem is the North Pole, cut the peaches in half, starting at the stem, then slicing down towards Antarctica and then back up to the North Pole.

Remove the pit, then slice the peaches into ¼” rounds.

This recipe calls for more peaches than tomatoes. That’s because, chances are some of the peach slices will not be usable. They will be too small, or too soft, or fall down the grates as a sacrifice to the grill god.

If your tomatoes are much larger than your peaches, you can cut the slices in half for more consistent sizes.

This recipe calls for some balsamic glaze for drizzling. You could make a balsamic reduction if you prefer, but this organic glaze by De Nigris is delicious and so easy! Just make sure to pick a glaze without added sugar, caramel color, and other questionable ingredients.

Print Recipe

Grilled Peach Caprese Salad

Ingredients

• 2 to matoes
• 3 peaches
• 2 - 8 oz balls of fresh mozzarella
• 1 bunch of fresh basil
• olive oil for brushing
• balsamic glaze for drizzling
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

• Starting at the stem cut the peach in half. Remove the pit, then slice the peaches into ¼” rounds.
• Preheat a clean and seasoned grill to high.
• Brush the fronts and backs of the peach slices, with olive oil.
• Lay the peach slices onto and oiled grill and close the lid. After about 90 seconds, flip the slices and grill for another 90 seconds.
• Some of the smaller pieces of may have to be sacrificed to the grill god, that’s okay. That’s why there are three peaches to the two tomatoes.
• Remove to a cutting board and allow slices to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.
• Slice the mozzarella rounds into ¼” slices. Slice the tomatoes into ¼” slices, make your slices perpendicular to the stem.
• Layer the slices onto a platter; nesting them on top of each other like spread playing cards. I layered mine in the following order: tomato slice, basil leaf, grilled peach slice, fresh mozzarella slice, basil leaf, and then I repeated that pattern.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then drizzle with balsamic glaze.
• Enjoy!

This recipe can also be found at Savoring Saturdays link party.