“Grilled oily fish is another great match for peaches, as are raw tomatoes. Serve tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar with a handful of green leaves.”

Ben Tish, culinary director of Norma, talking about his peach passion in Food and Travel Magazine

Boy Oh Boy! What a list of foodie pairing treats… and this salad, with its star duet of peach and prosciutto, is also certainly more than the sum of its parts..

At this time of the year peaches are at their best… cut through the velvety skin, and sweet, luscious juices will run. The tomatoes too have had their fill of the hot sun (buy, of course, Mediterranean-grown tomatoes) and turned that into flavour.

And the burrata – always a rich dairy treat, spilling its creamy contents around on being slashed. Skye McAlpine, in her new book, A Table For Friends, serves her burrata fairly virgin with olive oil, preserved lemon and mint. So you could adapt this recipe, substituting the basil for mint, and the pomegranate molasses for preserved lemon, and omitting if you want, the tomatoes and prosciutto, to achieve something similar.

Take care not to lose any of the juices which may pool on your chopping board…. Reserve and pour them over everything else.

Recipe for a September salad of ripe peaches; big, beefy, juicy tomatoes; and rich gooey burrata

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 burrata
• 120g/4 oz prosciutto
• 2 large ripe peaches
• 2 medium tomatoes
• about a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses
• 4 tablespoons of good quality fruity olive oil
• Urfa pepper flakes
• Maldon salt flakes
• a few sprigs of basil
• fresh, crusty white bread

Method

1. On a big, attractive serving plate spread out the prosciutto.
2. Stone and slice the peaches, arrange around the plate.
3. Core and slice the tomatoes, arrange around the plate, side by side with the peach slices.
4. Pour any juices left on the chopping board over the lot.
5. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper flakes. Tear over the basil.
6. Tear over the burrata, using the whole thing, including the sack.
7. Drizzle over the oil and pomegranate molasses.
8. Serve with lots of warm, crusty bread.

See also Peach, Sheeps’ Cheese and Basil Salad.