Charred peaches with wattleseed ricotta

This breakfast recipe brings together stone fruit, the nutty-chocolate notes of wattleseed and karkalla, a native succulent with a crisp, salty-cucumber flavour.

Charred peaches with wattleseed ricotta. Credit: Living Black

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 peaches (can be substituted with nectarines)
• Olive oi
• Sea salt
• ½ cup karkalla (also known as pig face), chopped, to garnish, optional
• 4 slices brioche loaf

Dressing

• ½ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp ground wattleseed
• Pinch of ground pepperberry
• 1 tsp ground saltbush
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• ½ bunch tarragon, leaves picked

Wattleseed ricotta

• 200 g ricotta cheese
• 1 tbsp ground wattleseed
• Pinch of pepperberry
• 1 lemon, juiced (or to taste)

Instructions

1. Make the dressing: Place vinegar, mustard, wattleseed, pepperberry, saltbush, sugar and tarragon leaves in a jar and shake until sugar has dissolved. Set aside to drizzle on the finished dish.
2. Slice the peaches in half and remove the seed. Place halves on a plate or tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt.
3. Heat a char-grill pan or frying pan on a medium to high heat then place peaches flesh side down in the hot pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until you have a good blackened char, then flip. Cover with lid for 2 minutes until sugars release and slightly soften. Set aside to slightly cool.
4. Meanwhile, in a blender, place ricotta, wattleseeds, lemon juice, sea salt, a pinch of pepperberry and a dash of olive oil. Blend until smooth.
5. With the pan on medium heat, drizzle the brioche slices with olive oil and place oil side down into the hot pan. Fry to char, drizzle with a little oil and then turn the slices to char the other side. (Cook in batches if needed, depending on the size of your pan).
6. Place brioche slices on plates and top with a good dollop of ricotta cream. Top with charred peaches and finish with wattleseed mustard dressing and karkalla. This dish goes well with a hot cup of coffee and tea, or freshly squeezed orange juice.

Notes

• Karkalla is in the sea succulent family, a salty cucumber that can be found on the shoreline and in urban city areas. It is also a close relative to the pig face that you may walk past every day in the southern parts of Australia. Most marketplaces can source karkalla and it is becoming more available in speciality greengrocers.
• Wattleseeds are a wonderful addition to your everyday pantry at home. When using wattleseed you want to make sure to roast them before use this can bring out more of the aroma and flavours; the lighter the wattleseed the more malty the flavour, the darker the seed the more bitter and savoury, but you want the middle the ground, a little brown, giving you nutty and chocolate notes and a latte aroma.
• There are few types of edible species of saltbush. The most commonly used in cooking is the Oldman Saltbush (as well as the coastal and ruby saltbush), which I like to refer to as the Blak man’s oregano, with a rich umami flavour and saltiness that gives you a two-for-one hit.

Nornie Bero made this recipe in an episode of Living Black.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.