Grilled Nectarines with Gelato

Our grill is getting a serious workout and that makes me happy. Summer is all about grilling and easy desserts that do not require ovens to be turned on. Because when an oven goes on the house heats up and you start to sweat and then the air conditioning has to blast harder and then your energy bills go up and then Mother Earth cries herself to sleep and then baby polar bears knock on your door and ask you why you didn't just grill outdoors and then you cry yourself to sleep. Okay, that is a really weird exaggeration and a horrid run-on sentence but you get the picture, right?

But seriously, why would you turn on your oven in the summer when you can just fire up the grill and pump out this effortless dessert that takes 10 minutes max and only 3 ingredients?

Ingredients:
ripe nectarines or any other stone fruit that grills well (peaches, plums, apricots,)
brown sugar
gelato or ice cream - the flavor is up to you; I chose vanilla bean, a classic (you can certainly use homemade and I actually have an ice cream recipe coming next Tuesday so stay tuned!)

Start by rinsing your fruit, run a knife around the pit and then twist it open. Then just pop out the pit and repeat for as many as you want/need. The fruit needs to be ripe but not too ripe. If they're not ripe enough, you'll have a hard time splitting it and a hard time popping out the pit. If the fruit is too ripe, you'll probably end up squishing and juicing it as you try and twist it open. It's all about that magic Goldilocks-style ripeness.

This shot of my dog has nothing to do with this recipe other than the fact that he was spying on me from inside the house while I was cooking. I love him.

My (new) grill came with this non-stick grate so I didn't grease the grate or the fruit but if you have a "sticky" grill, I suggest giving the fruit a spritz of cooking spray or wiping down the grate with an oil-soaked cloth. Place the fruit cut-side down on the grill and cover. Let the fruit grill for 3 to 5 minutes until the skin starts to shrivel up and juices start dripping.

Plate up your grilled beauties (love the faint grill lines and char) and then sprinkle with a little bit of brown sugar. The sugar will dissolve in the juices and make an amazingly delicious syrup. By the way, if you want a bit more of an obvious char, I recommend brushing the cut-side of your nectarines (or whatever fruit you use) with a bit of olive oil before they go on the grill.

Serve the grilled fruit with the lovely brown sugar syrup in a bowl with a scoop of gelato or ice cream. The warmth of the fruit will start to melt the gelato immediately which then mixes with the fruity brown sugar syrup and it's awesome. There's something kind of magical about hot and cold together. You'll love it. And you can feel good eating it because it's fruit. And fruit is healthy. And you're getting calcium and vitamin D from the ice cream. Right?

xoxo.