Diane Rossen Worthington
When white peaches are in season, I can’t get enough of them. I make poached peaches in wine, chilled peach soup with yogurt, peach cobblers and more. Of course, eating a perfectly ripe white peach over the sink, with all its juiciness, is the epitome of summer eating to me. In the spirit of my Seriously Simple cooking philosophy, I offer you this traditional Catalan dessert called “mel i mato” which means, fresh cheese drizzled with honey in Spanish.
This recipe, adapted from Seamus Mullen’s “Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC.), includes white and yellow peaches, but if you can’t find white peaches, this will still be delicious.
Author Mullen prefers to use a mandoline to slice the peaches so they resemble whisper-thin flower petals. Don’t worry if you don’t have a mandoline; just thinly slice the peaches with a sharp knife.
It’s important to use a fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese for this recipe. The flavor and texture work beautifully for this dessert. I think of this as a sophisticated dessert that is easy to put together, beautiful to look at and divine to finish any meal. The drizzle of fruity olive oil is not necessary but an interesting finish to this not-too-sweet dessert.
Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including “Seriously Simple Parties,” and a James Beard Award-winning radio show host. You can contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.