A simple summer fruit and cheese board featuring delicate goat and cow’s milk cheeses paired with fresh cantaloupe, apricots, peaches and grapes.
Though Pinterest will have you believe otherwise, the best cheese boards are simple. But simple doesn’t have to mean uninspired. There’s a nearly endless range of fruits and vegetables to pair with cheese, so please, forgo the usual suspects. Today, I’m sharing a summer-inspired fruit and cheese board, but this savory cheese board from a few years back (arranged in the moment, just before dinner guests arrived) remains memorable.
As with most of my food-related projects, I take my cues from the season, and as far as seasonal food moments go, it doesn’t get better than mid-July. This summer fruit and cheese board strikes a few unexpected notes, juxtaposing a perfect cantaloupe with Champagne grapes, peaches, and apricots. In selecting cheeses, I went for creamy, delicate flavors that would complement the fruits: goat’s milk gouda, brie, fresh perline mozzarella, and a nutty tomme. I rounded things out with toasted flatbreads, rye crisps, wafers, and apricot jam. Serve alongside a dry rose or sparkling wine, and you have an instant party.
I served this fruit and cheese board at a summer party, but it’s also a nearly perfect easy summer dinner. If the idea of just fruit and cheese for dinner feels overly decadent, add a green salad on the side.
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A simple summer fruit and cheese board featuring delicate goat and cow's milk cheeses paired with fresh cantaloupe, apricots, peaches and grapes.
- 1/2 cantaloupe, exterior rinsed and scrubbed, seeded, and cut into thin slivers
- 1/2 pound apricots, halved or quartered, pits removed
- 1/2 pound yellow and donut peaches, halved or quartered, pits removed
- 1 lemon
- 1 wedge goat's milk gouda, sliced (here: Hollandais Spring Koe Goat Gouda)
- 1 wedge Brie, (here: St. Andre)
- 1 rectangle tomme, (here: Meadow Creek Dairy Appalachian Tomme)
- 8 ounces fresh perline mozzarella
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 bunch Champagne Grapes
- 1/3 cup apricot jam
- Toasted flatbread triangles, rye crisps, and crackers for serving
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Use care when serving cantaloupe – take the time to thoroughly scrub and rinse the exterior and then pat dry. Halve, seed, and cut cantaloupe into thin slivers.
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Prepare the apricots and peaches. Squeeze a lemon over both to prevent browning.
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On large board or marble slab, arrange and slice the cheeses. Drain the mozzarella, tip into a small bowl, and top with a pinch or two sea salt.
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Tuck the fruits around the cheeses wherever you can find room. Just before serving, add a small bowl of jam and tuck flatbreads, crisps, and crackers along the edges.
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