Having a sweet tooth is a curse. Cravings strike without warning, and searching for recipes on Pinterest can be dangerous for someone diagnosed with said sweet tooth. More often than not, my hands begin churning out a flourless chocolate cake or some sort of torrid cupcakes with bacon frosting.
In searching for a sweet tooth fix without any (un)necessary gluttony (aka bacon), I found myself staring at a recipe for sugar-roasted peaches with bacon, rosemary and bleu cheese. As much as I love the addition of bacon to pretty much anything, peaches are one of those fruits that can handle themselves without the aid of pork fat.
I reworked the recipe, taking out the bacon (this was, after all, supposed to be a healthier alternative) and the bleu cheese. I added a little butter, a little honey, and a little goat cheese instead. I don’t know if that makes it healthier, but at least the recipe is now vegetarian.
The peaches are first browned in a cast-iron skillet and then roasted in the oven with sugar and rosemary. The halved peaches get soft and golden brown from roasting in the skillet, and after all that peachy-goodness gets baked in, they're topped with goat cheese crumbles and some honey. The brown sugar-sweetened and rosemary-infused peach juice that inevitably develops will have you and your guests licking spoons and fingertips in jubilation. Best of all, the recipe is as easy as it is tasty, and that’s always good.
Sugar-roasted skillet peaches
Makes two servings
Ingredients
1 ripe peach sliced in half
1/3-cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of rosemary (fresh or dried)
A drizzle of honey (optional but recommended)
A crumble of goat cheese
Pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix granulated and brown sugar in a bowl. Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat and melt butter. I added a few bits of rosemary to really get the flavor into the butter, and thus infuse the peaches better.
Reduce heat to medium low. Cut a peach or peaches, depending on how many people you are looking to serve. Remove pit, spoon out pit excrement, and discard.
Sprinkle peaches, cut side up, with half the sugar mixture and a little salt. Put them in the skillet cut side down. If you do not have a cast-iron skillet, any other oven-safe pan will work just fine.
Tuck rosemary springs in between or sprinkle dried rosemary over top. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the cut side is golden.
Flip the peaches cut side up, sprinkle remaining sugar over the peaches. Place your skillet o’ peaches in the oven to roast for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and flip peaches, roast for 10 more minutes. If your house smells like baked peaches, that means they are done.
Remove and serve immediately. Discard the rosemary.
Sprinkle some goat cheese crumbles over top of each peach half.
Drizzle with honey and devour with a spoon.
