Luxuriating in Seasonal Tapas: Baked Peach & Brie With Basil & Olives

Peaches with olives you say? YES. Oh hells yea. First, one must have a love for kalamata olives. I do – the mister doesn’t, so this melt-in-your-mouth, dip, soak and scoop up with fresh crusty bread tapas style appetizer… it didn’t do it for him.

For those of you who love fresh inspired cuisine? Rustic, seasonal and adventurous food? This is for you. The creamy, perfectly oozy and mild flavour of the brie pairs perfectly with the strong and salty taste of the kalamata olives. The peaches serve as but a sticky sweet vehicle for said olives and brie. And the basil? Well basil in growing in abundance in our garden right now and I had visions of basil infused oil drizzles and basil served with desserts painted with reduced balsamic swirling through my foodie brain…(printable recipe card at the end of the post!)

I took a chance, I selfishly followed my senses directly in correlation to flavours and textures that I love while fond memories of tapas nights with the girls BC (before children) danced around in my head. When we’d order a devastatingly heady amount of seasonal fare at one of my long-remembered favourite restaurants. Cheeses and dips and olive tapenade and philo layered pleasures. Where fruit met wine, met cheese, met palette. And every one of my senses was immediately engaged from the company and laughter shared to the taste buds exploding in my mouth.

It didn’t take long for bowls and plates to get double a proper double dipped treatment. For ingredients to start smearing into one another, dips swirled and streaked across the plates, bread crumbs trailing all throughout.

That’s what this peach bake does for me. It beckons to times like that, with good friends and family hunkered around the table, while sipping on a lovely bottle of wine while the children run amuck and turn their noses up at our fancy fare. Which is fine. More for us. Cold cheese chunks, peach slices and tomatoes for them (Although Abby loves her some kalamata olives. She is her mother’s daughter after all.)

The most important thing you need to remember with this recipe is that you NEED A GOOD LOAF OF FRESH BREAD to accompany it. The peaches let off quite a bit of liquid while they bake and crackers just won’t do it all justice. You want to tear off hunks of that bread and GET RIGHT IN THERE, soaking up every last warm and fragrant bite. Sop it all up. That’s right. It should nearly turn you on.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

STEP ONE:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel and halve those ripe, juicy beauties. Place in your baking vessel of choice. Clay, glass, pyrex – it doesn’t matter.

STEP TWO: 
Pit and roughly/minimally chop all of those olives, or buy them pitted and save yourself the trouble. Spread around like so.

STEP THREE:
Next up wash and tear up that aromatic, sweet and fresh basil to lay atop it all. Sprinkle with salt, drizzle with oil.

STEP FOUR: 
Slice all (yep all), of the glorious melt-in-your-mouth brie and do a little dance. Sip a little wine. (If you’re not drinking wine with this, I just don’t know what to say.) Place like so. Give it a little love pat and slide’er into the oven. Bake till it bubbles and squeaks. Approximately 15 – 20 minutes depending on the heat of your oven.

STEP FIVE:
You’ll want to give it a few minutes to rest after coming out of the oven. You’ll also want remember about that bread I was harping on.

STEP SIX:
And launch.

 Until the next. XO