Stone Fruit & Herb Salad | Building Feasts

My love of Summer fruit in salads runs deep. I think they make such an excellent accompaniment to grilled fish and meat and bring sweet sunshine to the savoury main courses of the season.

This recipe is so adaptable so feel free to use as many or few varieties of stone fruit available. The choices vary depending on where you are. I also like to grill some of them, but this is absolutely not necessary if you don’t have the time or inclination. The fresh herbs, acid kissed spring onions, hit of heat from the chili and salty cheese (if using) make the fruit sing either way.

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Serves 4-6 as a side

4-5 peaches and or nectarines ( depending on their size and a combination is great)
2-3 apricots
1 tsp olive oil plus more for finishing
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
2 spring onions
1 red chili
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp Malden salt plus more for finishing the salad
50g chopped toasted pistachios
100g crumbled feta (optional)
2 cups fresh herbs - I like to use a combination of the following :
leaves from 1 large bunch mint, leaves from 1 large bunch basil (throw in some purple basil here for colour if you can find some), leaves from 2 sprigs tarragon, leaves from 1 small bunch chervil, leaves from 1 sprig fresh marjoram.

Start by making the dressing:
Place the sliced spring onions and chili in a small bowl and zest and juice the lime over the top. Add the rice vinegar and a good pinch of salt and leave to hang out together while you make the salad.

Prep the fruit:
Start with searing 2-3 pieces of your fruit selection. This is an optional (but I think critical) step in the beauty of this salad. I like to sear my peaches/nectarines in a hot cast iron pan, but you can also do this on a hot grill or under your oven broiler.

Take 2 peaches or nectarines or both and an apricot and cut them in half, removing the stone. Place them cut side up on your board and drizzle them with a little hot honey or honey and a sprinkling of Aleppo pepper.

Heat your cast iron or stainless steel pan. When it’s hot, drizzle some olive oil over the bottom and place the halved pieced of fruit cut side down in the pan. Sear for 1-2 minutes until they are golden and caramelised. You don’t want to cook them so they want as little time in the pan as possible, just to get a good blister.

Once they are seared, allow to cool for a few minutes while you gather the rest of your ingredients together.

I like to serve this on a flat (or flat-ish) serving plate, but mix the base of the salad together in a bowl before plating so its well seasoned and covered with the dressing. Cut your un-seared fruit into irregular and quite chunky pieces. Get creative here, you do not want to have it all in equal slices. Add these to a large bowl and cut up the remaining seared pieces of fruit, adding them in too.

Sprinkle over your fresh herb selection (preferably washed and dried) and pour over the spring onion / chili dressing with all the liquid. Gently toss everything together and scatter onto your serving plate. Sprinkle over the feta and pistachios, a pinch of Malden salt and a lick of olive or garlic oil if you like. This should be a very casual arrangement of enticing beauty.

If you are making this for a crowd you can prep everything in advance, but dress and plate just before serving.

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