When it’s peach season, I make every effort to enjoy them in as many ways as possible and one of my current favourites is this Peach Salsa. This is a delicious summer condiment. It has a combination of sweet, savoury and slightly spicy flavours which make the Salsa ideal to use in several ways. It’s delicious served with chicken, pork or fish. Alternatively, serve it as an appetizer with chips or to top tacos.
Dice the peaches, leaving skin on. Make the dice a little larger than the other ingredients. Add them to a medium size bowl.
Finely dice the tomato, capsicum/green pepper, jalapeno and red onion and add these to the bowl along with the peaches.
Finely chop the coriander/cilantro and to the bowl together with the lime juice. If serving immediately, season with sea salt to taste.
Gently toss the ingredients together to combine them, then check the seasoning, adding more salt or lime juice if necessary. See Note 5.
If you are making the Salsa in advance, do not add salt until you are ready to serve as it will draw moisture from the ingredients, making the Salsa watery.
Cover the bowl with cling wrap and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. The Salsa is best eaten shortly after it’s prepared but can be made an hour or two in advance if preferred.
Notes
You can use yellow or white peaches, whichever you prefer. Ideally, try to obtain freestone peaches rather than clingstone. As their names imply, freestone peaches have fruit that easily pulls away from the pit, while clingstone peaches have flesh which clings to the pit making it impossible to remove the fruit cleanly. You want to avoid fruit which is not ripe as the flesh will be hard and lack flavour. On the other hand, fruit which is over-ripe will not hold its shape and will become mushy. Look for peaches that have a little give when you gently squeeze them. The fruit should be fragrant. Avoid any with bruises. If your fruit is very sweet, you may need to add a little extra lime juice to balance the flavours.
I like to leave the skin on the peaches as it adds lovely colour.
All chillies vary in the intensity of their heat so I recommend that you check the heat of yours before adding them to the dish. If it seems too hot, remove the seeds and the membrane. If you prefer milder heat you may prefer to only use a half jalapeno or completely omit it.
If you are not able to eat coriander/cilantro you can use fresh mint instead; it is delicious. Or, if you prefer, you can also use flat-leaf parsley.
If making the Salsa an hour or two in advance do not add salt until you are about to serve as it will draw moisture from the ingredients.
Please note, the nutritional information is based on this recipe serving four people as an appetiser. The nutritional information is an estimated only.