Recipes › Basil › Grilled Peach, Mozzarella and Basil Salad
Grilled Peach, Mozzarella and Basil Salad
This salad is peak August on a plate. Grilling the peaches until they caramelise brings out their sweetness and gives them a slight smokiness that cuts through the richness of the mozzarella. A deeply flavoured basil dressing — made by blending a full 40g of leaves into the oil — ties everything together and makes the dish feel genuinely complete rather than just assembled.
Basil is in season now. More basil recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 50 g fresh basil leaves, divided: 40g for dressing, 10g for serving
- 4 ripe peaches, halved and stones removedor use nectarines
- 500 g buffalo mozzarella, drained and torn into rough piecesor use two standard 125g mozzarella balls — they are less rich but still good
- 90 ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided: 60ml for dressing, 30ml for grilling
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ tsp flaked sea salt
- 60 g rocket leaves, washed
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tsp runny honey (optional)omit for vegan
Contains: milk.
Method
- Make the basil dressing: place 40g of basil leaves, the garlic clove, 60ml of extra-virgin olive oil, the lemon juice, salt, honey (if using), and a good grind of black pepper into a small blender or use a stick blender in a tall jug. Blend for 30–40 seconds until smooth and vivid green. Taste and adjust the lemon or salt. Set aside.About 5 min
- Heat a ridged griddle pan over a high heat until it is very hot — at least 3 minutes of preheating. Brush the cut side of each peach half with the remaining 30ml of olive oil.About 3 min
- Place the peach halves cut-side down on the hot griddle. Press down gently with a spatula. Grill for 3–4 minutes without moving until clear char lines have formed and the cut surface is deeply caramelised. Flip and grill the skin side for 1 minute. Remove to a board and leave to cool for 3 minutes.About 5 min
- Arrange the rocket leaves across a large serving platter. Nestle the torn mozzarella pieces amongst the rocket. Place the grilled peach halves on top, cut-side up.About 3 min
- Spoon the basil dressing generously over the whole salad. Scatter the reserved 10g of whole basil leaves over the top. Finish with a pinch of flaked sea salt and serve immediately.About 2 min
Tips
- The griddle pan must be properly screaming hot. If the peaches stick when you try to lift them, they are not ready yet — leave them another 30 seconds and they will release cleanly.
- Make the basil dressing immediately before serving or at most 30 minutes ahead. It will oxidise and turn from bright green to khaki if you make it too far in advance.
- Use the best buffalo mozzarella you can find here — its milky, slightly sour richness is the counterpoint to the sweet peaches and the dressing needs something substantial to cling to.
Ring the changes
- Replace the peaches with ripe figs when they come into season in late August and September — halve them and grill for just 2 minutes cut-side down.
- Add 80g of thinly sliced prosciutto draped over the salad just before serving if you want to make this more of a substantial plate.
Keeping it
This salad is assembled to order and does not store well. The dressing can be made up to 2 hours ahead and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge. Grill the peaches up to 1 hour ahead at room temperature, but assemble the salad only when ready to eat.
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