Pear Galette

I received an abundance of pears in our CSA box last week so decided to try making a galette. If you haven't seen one before its like a free form pie or tart. It turned out great and looked impressive plus it was really easy!

The recipe I used is actually for a plum galette from Martha Stewart. It worked out nicely using the pears and I think you could do apples too. A combo of pear, plum and apple might be great as well.

Prep: 30 minutes
Total: 1 3/4 hours

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ice water
1/4 cup whole, skin-on almonds, toasted
5 to 6 plums, halved, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick. Keep slices together. (**see cooks notes below)
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream


In a food processor, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, butter, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Don't over mix. Remove dough from processor and shape into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour (I kept it in fridge overnight).

Meanwhile, wipe bowl of food processor clean and add almonds, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour; pulse until ground to a coarse meal. (**see cooks notes below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; sprinkle almond mixture over dough. With a spatula, transfer plums to dough; press lightly to fan out, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edge of dough over fruit. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Brush crust with cream; sprinkle galette with 2 tablespoons sanding sugar. Bake until crust is golden and underside is cooked through, about 60-70 minutes.

* Cooks notes:

- I purchased almond meal from Trader Joe's rather then grinding up my own. It was much easier. I took 1 cup almond meal and combined with 1/4 cup sugar and 2-3 tbs flour then spread that on dough before layering on fruit. This is important because it soaks up the juices released from fruit and prevents crust from being soggy on bottom.

- You can substitute pears or apples for the plums. To prep the pears I sliced off stem and bottom part of fruit then sliced in half. I used a small melon baller to scoop out center part with seeds.

- Sanding sugar can be found at most craft or party supply stores in the baking section. Its nice to have some on hand because it adds a special touch to the final look of the pastry.

- I sprinkled toasted sliced almonds on top of the galette once it was done baking. This is optional but thought it looked pretty.

Enjoy!