In the markets, a single peach could sell for the price of a day’s wage. Banquet hosts would display bowls of the fruit as if they were jewels, served alongside honey and wine.
Over time, peach trees were planted across Italy, making the sweet fruit accessible to all Italians.
In the Giardinetto grove, we have a number of peach trees that grow alongside our olive trees. And we love to toss a few peaches onto the grill during our summer barbeques!
To make this recipe simple to recreate at home, our chef has adapted it for the oven. But if you have a grill, we highly recommend grilling them for an extra smoky sweetness.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put them into a metal bowl. Add the cream.
Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water and allow the chocolate to melt completely. Important: the bowl should fit snugly on top of the pot and not touch the water.
Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the stove and add the egg yolks, whisking well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt (using an electric whisk) until stiff peaks form.
Once stiff peaks have formed, carefully transfer the whipped egg whites to the chocolate bowl and gently fold them in. This step is important as it allows for your mousse to be light and fluffy, so make sure you don’t over-mix.
Place the mousse in the fridge to cool for at least 3 hours (or overnight).
Preheat the oven to 356°F.
Rinse and dry the peaches. Cut them in half and remove the pit.
Bake the peaches cut side down until they are tender, about 25 minutes. Let them cool at room temperature.
Remove the chocolate mousse from the fridge and place a spoonful of it over each peach half. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
