Chilled Nectarine Soup with Late-Harvest Wine

Liquid deliciousness, this recipe combines juicy nectarines with nectar-like late-harvest wine, which is made from extra-ripe grapes with concentrated sweetness and flavor. Leaving the skins on the nectarines for poaching gives a rosy hue to the liquid, depending on how much red there is in the nectarine skins; it's a nice touch. This recipe may also be made with white or yellow peaches, or a combination of both, using one white-fleshed fruit for the final garnish on the otherwise soft yellow-orange soup. Choose a not-too-expensive late-harvest wine for this recipe, which will give the soup distinctive flavor while saving a more prized late-harvest for sipping alongside. Most of these wines come in 375 ml bottles, the perfect size for this recipe.

• 2 1/2 pounds nectarines
• 1 1/2 cups late-harvest riesling or gewürztraminer
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 sprigs lemon verbena or lemon thyme or 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Pit all but one of the nectarines and put the halves in a large saucepan. Set aside 1/4 cup of the late-harvest wine for later and add the rest to the pan with the white wine, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon verbena. Add about 2 cups of water so that the liquid just covers the nectarines. Bring the liquid just to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and gently simmer until the nectarines are tender when poked with the tip of a knife, 15 to 20 minutes.

Take the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. When cool, remove and discard the lemon verbena. Slip off and discard the skin from the nectarine halves and transfer them to a food processor or blender with about 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid. Process until smooth, then put the purée in a bowl and stir in the remaining poaching liquid. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Shortly before serving, whip the cream until soft peaks begin to form, then drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup of late-harvest wine and continue whipping until well blended. Pit and finely chop the remaining nectarine. Ladle the soup into shallow soup bowls, scatter the chopped nectarine over and drizzle the whipped cream over in a random pattern. Serve right away.

Makes 6 servings

Recipe by Cynthia Nims, from Stonefruit, part of the Northwest Homegrown Cookbook Series.