pull-apart peach caprese garlic bread
PEACHEEEEEEEES PEACHES PEACHES PEACHEEEEEEES.
I am so wildly excited about the beauty of July peaches that I may have gone batshit and bought ten in the past two days. Good thing I also have about 5-6 peach concepts in mind, including this incredible appetizer. I’m thrilled to share this big hunk of buttery carbaceousness with ya’ll on this fine Thursday.
I’m into balancing indulgence with freshness, so I wouldn’t even dub this golden loaf a ridiculous investment in richness. Rather, it couples everyone’s favorite baked garlic-infused slices with the lightness and sweetness of peaches and tomatoes, with an herby vinaigrette to finish. My habit of eating baguette with butter every day, with some accompaniment of salad or soup usually, inspired this dish. Since I keep breads around constantly I tried to configure a formula for a unique, but still quite accessible and easy recipe that can be enjoyed for most occasions, be it a simple supper at home or for entertaining.
This fun and spunky Pull-Apart Peach Caprese Garlic Bread is ready in about 30 minutes, involves pretty simple ingredients, and celebrates the abundance of the hot weather months. Truly a special centerpiece for a table of small bites, or to accompany a peach salad if you are also infatuated with Booty Fruit like me.
Embrace Your Inner Loaf
Garlic bread is pretty straightforward by nature. We add a bit more pizzazz here with the pull-apart addition.
Grab a good loaf of crusty baguette. A simple trick to ensure you don’t get slice-happy and knife all the way through the fucker is to lay a wooden skewer on either side of the baguette, right up against the loaf. Then, slice about 1-inch pieces into the bread. I cut mine on a diagonal to go with the grain of my particular loaf.
The filling is an easy garlic butter, just softened butter and *gasp* garlic cloves. Almost as big a shocker as NYT Cooking’s one ingredient banana ice cream that contains…wait for it…bananas. Anyway. Mash the two together with some flaky salt and pepper, then spoon into each crevice you just made in the bread. You’ll be surprised how far 4 tablespoons of butter goes!
Slice a ball of mozzarella and stuff the bread with the cheese. Wrap the whole thing in foil and bake for 10 minutes, the uncover and bake a bit longer to help the cheese melt and crisp up the edges of the loaf. The smell is just glorious, like an Italian restaurant moved into your kitchen.
Life’s A Peach
The cherry tomato vinaigrette follows a similar trajectory as my typical marinated tomatoes. So I could’ve probably just called them marinated tomatoes, but you know what? I wanted to jazz up the namesake a little, so leave me the fuck alone.
The dressing contains olive oil, white balsamic vinegar (cider vinegar is okay, too), peach preserves or honey, fresh oregano, mint, and a little more garlic. Whisk it together and spoon a bit over halved cherry tomatoes to infuse them with the vinaigrette’s loveliness.
While the bread is hot and toasty, pull apart individual pieces as you wish and top with peaches and the tomato dressing, as well as fresh basil and flaky salt. I like to present mine as you see in the photos, with the peaches hanging out in the cheesy cracks of the loaf. Looks so pretty on the table with all those big basil leaves.
This stands alone wonderfully with a glass of crisp cold wine, or a radler/light ale, for lunch or a casual dinner. Great last-minute fixture, too, if you have to offer up something for a potluck or find a few friends knocking on your door begging for food when you least expect it. Kinda rude of them, but you’re a nice person and don’t want them to enter hungry, right?
Tip: double the recipe, or triple it, easily for a bigger crowd! And to squirrel away an extra slab or two for yourself. Wink wink.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Feelin’ peachy keen:
Garden Peach Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
Cinnamon Sugar Peach Dutch Baby
pull-apart peach caprese garlic bread
Ingredients
- 1 French or sourdough baguette
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella
- 2 peaches, sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp peach preserves (or honey)
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh mint
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice the baguette into 1 inch slices, being careful not to cut all the way through the bread. Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with foil.
- In a small bowl, mash together the softened butter and 3 cloves of the garlic. Dust with a pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Spoon the garlic butter evenly between each slice of bread.
- Slice the mozzarella ball and place a slab into each slice of bread. Wrap the loaf in foil and bake for 10 minutes, then uncover and bake 5-8 minutes longer until the cheese melts and the bread turns a bit more golden.
- In a bowl or jar, whisk or shake the olive oil with the white balsamic, peach jam/honey, the remaining garlic clove, oregano, mint, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the tomatoes to a bowl and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette.
- Serve the garlic bread hot. Pull apart a slab and top with 1-2 peach slices, tomatoes, extra vinaigrette, and fresh basil.
