Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp with Almonds and Rolled Oats

Here’s one more delicious dessert to make with nectarines and blueberries. Hurry up while the nectarine season still lasts! It’s almost almost over!

My nectarine crisp is not super sweet and has a nice crunch that comes from rolled oats and almonds. You can whip it up in 5 minutes and cook in 20, which makes it a perfect weekday dessert. Put it in the oven before you sit to have dinner - with cooking and cooling it will be ready right about you’ve finished your meal.

For 2 sizeable servings or 3-4 small you will need:

Filling:

• 1 large or 1.5 medium nectarines, pitted, cut into ½ inch pieces
• 2/3 cup blueberries
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp corn starch
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of ½ medium lemon

Topping:

• 1 oz/2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 Tbsp old fashioned rolled quick cooking (not instant!) oats
• 2 heaping Tbsp toasted sliced almonds or 1 Tbsp almonds and 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• A pinch or two of cinnamon
• A pinch of salt

For serving:

• Ice cream, frozen yogurt or semifreddo for serving

Also:

• 2 ramekins about 4.5-5 inches wide and 1/5-2 inches deep

Preheat the oven to 425F. If using convection, preheat to 410-415.

For the topping, start with melting butter. I always do it in a microwave: it only takes a minute on a high setting. In a wide bowl, mix together flour, rolled oats, both sugars, salt, cinnamon, and almonds. Sprinkle with the melted butter and mix with hands until all the ingredients get wet and look crumbly. Set aside while you preparing the filling.

In another bowl, stir together nectarine pieces, blueberries, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon zest and corn starch. Divide the mixture between the ramekins, filling them a bit over halfway up. Don’t overfill: in the oven the juices from nectarines and blueberries will eventually start to boil and if the ramekins are too full, the juices may bubble over.

Sprinkle the topping over the fruit mixture in an even layer.

Place the ramekins on a baking dish (in case of spillage) and put in the oven. Bake for about 20-23 minutes or until the fruits mixtures starts to show sign of boiling and the topping is lightly golden brown. If using convection, the cooking time will be shorter by about 5 minutes or so, just watch your crisp closely.

Remove from the oven and let cool down slightly for about 7-10 minutes. Top with a ball of ice cream or frozen yogurt and serve right away. The contrast of soft fruits and crispy topping, of warm crumble and cold ice cream is absolutely heavenly.