Jen and the Giant Peach: Bougie Flatbreads Edition

(OK, not technically one gigantic peach – more like 25 pounds of smaller ones. But the comparison was practically begging to be made.) 

I ordered a shipment from The Peach Truck this year. What these peaches lacked in colossal size they more than made up for by being ridiculously good – I accrued some goodwill among my friends by delivering 6-count bags to quite a few porches around the area, and I still had plenty of peaches to each them at every single meal all week and still have some in the fridge to get me through the weekend. Whatever they put into them is clearly working, as I just ordered another 25 pounds from the August shipment in the throes of some kind of peach-induced madness. 

For the record, I’m not actually a big fan of Roald Dahl books – I find them creepy as hell, and not in a good way. However. I have very specific memories of one of my cousins reading “James and the Giant Peach” to her younger brother and I as a bedtime story. I’m 100% sure we were far too old for bedtime stories by this time, but it was a nightly ritual that I loved and looked forward to, and I’m also 100% sure that’s why my kids had such a long run of bedtime stories themselves. 

Actual conversation from this weekend: 

“I thought of you. I ordered 25 pounds of peaches and thought about you reading “James and the Giant Peach” every time we ate one.” 

“Jennifer, what do you even do with 25 pounds of peaches?” 

“I shared some. We ate a lot of them.” (lists all the recipes we cooked with the peaches) 

"That sounds delicious. How many do you have left?” 

“Four.” 

“Four pounds?"

“Um. Four peaches.” 

Silence. 

I prefer to think this was inspired by her awe at my peach-using ingenuity, but I think it was horror at the thought of someone actually eating all that fruit. In my defense, I had help. 

I’m reasonably sure by now you’re wondering how exactly one cooks with many peaches. Yes, when I list all the recipes I sound like Bubba from “Forrest Gump,” so I’ll spare you that. The hands-down favorites were the pork tacos with peach salsa and the flatbreads; and since they’re faster, easier, and something I’m probably going to make with one of the last 4 peaches, I’m sharing this recipe in the hopes that you too will have a craving for a bougie lunch. 

Also, I ordered another 25 pounds. 

(Shared by my friend Pam (who also ordered from the Peach Truck), so I have no idea where this recipe came from. I’ve cut it in half but it will easily scale up for as many bougie friends as you have. One flatbread per person really is enough. 

Jen and the Giant Peach Flatbread 

6 oz fresh mozzarella (or enough ricotta for a decent schmear on each piece of bread) 
2 mini naan flatbreads 
2 Tbsp olive oil 
1 peach, thinly sliced 
2 oz. prosciutto, cut into thin strips 
¼ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced 

Preheat the oven to 450. This will be worth turning your oven on, I promise. 

Place the naan on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Place 3 thick slices of mozzarella on each one (or the ricotta, if that’s how you roll), then layer with the peach slices, prosciutto, and 1 ½ tablespoons of basil for each one. Season with salt and pepper. 

Bake about 8 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese is melted. We ate these as-is, but it was suggested that a nice drizzle of balsamic vinegar would not go amiss. Next time.