Thursday, September 1, 2011

Peach Pie with Mascarpone Cheese

So, it seems to me that a running theme this week is having too much of a good thing.

Well, I had the same experience. As we're nearing the end of peach season, I decided to go to the local fresh fruits and vegetables stand and buy a basket of peaches. I thought I'd treasure them for a week, one a day - yum - but to my dismay, they were really ripe and needed to be used immediately. I couldn't enjoy a peach sliced on my cereal for a week. I had to make something now!!

One of my all-time favorite foods in the world is peach pie. I adore it. Once made, I'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it's gone. I can't resist. (Yes, I make it gluten-free, but this recipe can be made either way.)

Now I could have given you a straight peach pie recipe, one that I've made since I was little girl, but I wanted to try something a little different, adding cheese to the pie, seeing as I'm always using cheese or a cheese kind of product nowadays.

I had made a cheese crust for my apple pie last year...picture on left. [For the life of me I can't find the recipe on the MLK site, which means I didn't tag it well, so I'm including the link to that recipe that is on my Avery Aames site: APPLE PIE WITH CHEESE CRUST.]


ANYWAY... like that experiment, I wanted to try using cheese in this peach pie. Literally "in." I hope you enjoy the result.

I used mascarpone. Mascarpone is an Italian dairy product, usually made from crème fraîche. It’s a lovely milky-white color and spreads like sour cream. It’s used in lots of dishes. It is the main ingredient of tiramisu.  And some people use it instead of butter or Parmesan cheese in risotto. Delish!

PEACH PIE WITH MASCARPONE 
(Gluten-free or regular)

Ingredients:

1 gluten-free 8-9” pie shell (may use regular if you're not celiac)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I used sweet rice flour; may use tapioca starch) (You may use regular white flour if you're not celiac)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 cup butter, room temperature
4 ounces mascarpone cheese
4 large peaches, skinned *

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees.
 
In medium bowl, mix sugar,  flour, nutmeg. Cut in the butter. The mixture will start to form small “pea-sized” balls. Put half of the mixture at the bottom of the uncooked pie shell.

Remove the skins from the peaches. *The easiest way to do this is to heat a pot of hot water. Using tongs, dip each peach into the water for about 20 seconds. This loosens the skin. With a paring knife, peel off the skin. Slice the peaches into thick slices. Arrange the peaches in a pinwheel on top of the mixture in the pie shell.

Pour the rest of the mixture over the peaches. Drop dollops of the mascarpone on top of the mixture. This will mound high, but rest assured, it will all cook down in the oven.

Place the pie on a cookie sheet with an edge. Juice will drip off the pie.

Bake for 10 minutes at 450, then reduce the heat to 350 and cook another 25 minutes, until the top of the pie is brown. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. 

Note: if you serve warm, the insides of the pie will ooze out, and it’s definitely harder to serve. If you cool overnight in the refrigerator, the insides of the pie will set and serve up more easily. It’s tasty either way. 







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14 comments:

  1. Oh my word! This is going to be made very soon.

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  2. We've had some amazing peaches here recently. This looks like a wonderful way to use them!

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  3. Yum! I've got some Marscapone I've been wondering what to do with... looks like I know now! Thanks!

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  4. Aimee, you used one of my favorite phrases. Oh my word! Love it. Glad you like the recipe.

    Elizabeth, enjoy.

    Sonia, isn't it funny how we have things in the fridge and just forget where we're supposed to use them? Last night I made a spaghetti (yep, gluten-free), with all the things I had in the refrigerator like broccoli, garlic, onions, mushrooms. It was a fabulous veggie meal and we'd planned on having barbecue. But pasta was calling to us. :)

    ~Avery

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  5. A must-make recipe, Avery! Gorgeous photos, too!

    ~ Cleo

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  6. and my note... I love the ooozing out of a warm peach pie. Life is hard (and so is serving a warm peach pie) When life gives you lemons... and when life gives you a warm peach pie, serve it!

    with ice cream!!!

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  7. Thanks, Cleo. I'm working on that photography. Just got a little tip from a guy who photographs jewelry for magazines. We'll see if the photos can get as good as yours! LOL

    Inspired Dave - too funny. I love the oozing too. It's almost finger-licking good. Remember as a kid licking the remnants of ice cream out of a bowl? (Who am I kidding? I still do that!)


    ~Avery

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  8. Your Peach Pie looks fabulous! the photos are making me hungry.. lol

    thanks for sharing!

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  9. What is it about cooked peaches that gets me every time? This sounds wonderful, Avery. How clever of you to sneak in some cheese!

    ~ Krista

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  10. Melissa, glad you enjoyed.

    Krista, I'm a big believer in a slice of cheese with pie. There's something about the salty with the sweet that is fabulous, so why not throw it "into" was my attitude. Because mascarpone is not as salty as other cheeses, it worked more like custard.

    ~Avery

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  11. Avery,
    Peaches are just now coming into season here in Michigan and I will definitely be making this pie!!! We hope to go to the Romeo Peach Festival this weekend if it's not too hot...so I will be bringing home LOTS of peaches!! Perfect timing on your part!
    Nanc
    I will admit that I leave the peel on...:-)

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  12. I always enjoy your cheese magic, Avery. Looking forward to this!

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  13. Nanc - have to admit I never have. Do you like the peel on? I love the peel when I have peaches on my cereal and fresh peaches. Just never did it with pie.

    Rochelle, glad you like.

    MJ, you are cute. My cheese magic? Ha! BTW, now have a cheese muse and she is fabulous!!! Because, let's face it, I'm not an expert, I'm an author. But she is an expert. Yay.

    ~Avery

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