My go-to summer appetizer has become a singular
obsession. It’s simple: Mascarpone, speck, and sliced peaches. Put this on
toasted baguette rounds, and you’ve created the last rays of summer.
Each time I make these for a party, I tweak them a
little. I add a few cranks of
pepper or some tiny nodes of flowering basil. The minute I set them on a
table, they vanish and itty bitty taste-gasms ensue.
The key is good Mascarpone. I’ve experimented with
different brands and I have to say that, although it’s cheeky expensive (as
much as $8.99 for a wee tub), the BelGioiosi brand boots the Whole
Foods brand ($2.99). The latter is silken but virtually tasteless, whereas
BelGioioso is sweetly milky.
If you’ve never tried Mascarpone, prepare to wallow. It’s like Nutella’s blonde cousin – you’ll want to slather it on
bread and then fall, panting, onto the couch. It’s great with jam, and it’s got
half the calories of butter – as if you care.
If you’ve never met speck (pronounced shpeck), you’re really in for a
breathless moment. Imagine Prosciutto’s suave brother – a slightly smoky
character from the Alto Adige region of northern Italy. It’s less salty and
more nuanced than Prosciutto.
Enough naughty talk. Go to the store. If you have leftover Mascarpone, you might want to make anchovy toasts. They're my favorite thing to make on New Years Eve with Champagne.
Peach Bruschetta with Mascarpone and Speck
Mascarpone
Speck (about ¼ lb)
2 peaches
1 baguette
Olive oil for drizzling
White or black pepper
Fresh basil
1. Preheat
oven to 375.
2. Thinly slice baguette into rounds and
drizzle with olive oil. Bake on a cookie sheet until brown, flipping once.
3. While
baguette rounds cool, slice peaches and toss with a little olive oil and a few
cranks of pepper – this will keep them from drying out.
4. Shmear
baguette rounds with Mascarpone. Add a layer of speck, a peach slice, and top
with chopped fresh basil.
