Stone fruit is one of my favourite things about summer, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries. Such a delicious treat and I really do not eat them enough over the summer months. There is something special about roasting or baking stone fruit, particularly peaches, apricots and nectarines, they are so warming and comforting, and baking really draws out the sweetness making them even more delectable! This salad was so much fun to make, it is so easy, looks incredible and the flavours are on point.
The balsamic reduction works really well with this baked nectarine, feta & bacon salad, super easy to make by simply reducing balsamic and maple syrup (or honey) over a low heat, this takes about 10 minutes with regular stirring and a watchful eye. TIP: Try to avoid over-reducing , as once the dressing cools, it hardens, which is annoying but can easily be resurrected by gently heating in the microwave or in a saucepan over a low heat.
You could use cow or goats feta, whatever works for you, just chop it up into little cubes to dot all over your salad towards the end. There is something magical that happens when you combine salty cheese with the sweetness of a baked nectarine!
Brushing these pretty little yellow ray’s of sunshine with butter and baking them gives a sweet/creamy flavour and encourages the fruit to golden. You could also use peaches if you are unable to source nectarines, the texture of the peach skin is a little fuzzier, and I personally prefer the smoothness of the nectarine.
This baked nectarine salad is perfect as a side dish to chicken, I devoured this with some easy peasy baked chicken and it was very satisfying. If you try this recipe, let me know how it goes!
For the salad:- 4 medium sized nectarines, stones removed and cut into halves
- 1 tablespoon of organic butter
- 2 cups of rocket foliage (arugula)
- 4 rashers of free-range bacon
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- ½ block (100 grams) of feta cheese
- ¼ cup roughly chopped almonds
For the dressing:- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons organic maple syrup or honey
- Himayalan salt & cracked pepper
- For the dressing:
- In a medium sized saucepan, add balsamic vinegar and maple syrup or honey.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, once simmering, reduce heat and continue to simmer on low to reduce, this will take about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it as it can burn easily! Once it has thickened to your preference (you want it reasonably sticky) remove from heat. It does thicken further on cooling so be careful to not over thicken or burn the dressing. If you have gone over-board with the thickening, you can re-heat it in the microwave or on the stove- crisis everted!
- For the salad:
- Wash and put rocket leaves through a salad spinner to remove excess water or set aside to drip dry in a colander.
- Pre-heat oven to 180ºC and line a shallow baking dish with baking paper.
- Rinse, de-stone and cut nectarines into halves, melt butter in the microwave or in a saucepan and brush over the flesh side of the cut nectarines. Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the nectarines start to golden and bubble on the surface. Once cooked remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Bring frying pan to medium heat on the stove top, place bacon rashers into the pan and fry until cooked (approximately 5 minutes) once cooked, place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- In the same pan add slivered almonds and cook until golden in the bacon fat. Remove from heat and set aside on a paper towel with the bacon.
- Dice feta and avocado into cubes- be sure to wipe down the chopping board between the feta and avocado, or it will look messy!
- Now that the nectarines have cooled, slice into quarters, and chop cooked bacon rashers into 1cm pieces.
- To serve, arrange rocket onto each serving plate, top with bacon, quartered nectarines, almonds and feta cheese. Drizzle with the balsamic reduction. Serve!
