PEACH AND TARRAGON PESTO PIZZA

We grill peaches, make ice cream with them, put them into cobblers, and eat them straight off of the tree all summer long. This surprising combination turned out to be our favorite peach dish of the entire season.

1 Beer Pizza Crust (page 224 )

½ cup Tarragon Pesto (recipe follows)

5 ripe peaches*, peeled, pitted, and sliced into half-moons (about 2 cups)

3 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled

Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper (to taste)

½ cup grated Manchego cheese (to garnish)

Preheat your oven (with the pizza stone in place) to 550 degrees F. Stretch, toss, or roll out your dough to a 10-inch circle. Place a 12-inch piece of parchment on your pizza peel or the back of a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the dough round on the pizza peel, and slide it into the oven. Cook for 2 minutes.

Pull the dough out of the oven and top it first with ½ cup of the pesto, and then the peach slices, and finally, the soft goat cheese. Slide the pizza back onto the stone for another 5 to 7 minutes or until the peaches start to caramelize. Remove and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated Manchego cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

*Peel the peaches using a serrated peeler. Frozen peaches can be substituted in this recipe if peaches are not in season.

TARRAGON PESTO

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This recipe will make more than you need, so feel free to cut it in half or just make the whole amount. It’s great on sandwiches, thinned out and used as a salad dressing, or as a dip for crunchy vegetables.

1 cup zucchini, chopped

4 cloves garlic

¼ cup walnuts

½ cup loose-packed fresh tarragon (leaves from about 5 stems)

Zest of 1 lemon

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes

¼ cup olive oil

Place the zucchini, garlic, walnuts, tarragon, lemon zest, black pepper, and salt into the food processor, and blend until the mixture has a smooth texture. Drizzle the olive oil into the food processor while it’s running in order to emulsify the pesto.

Makes 1 cup.