The Summer Galette

It sounds posh and well, a bit French, so it must be difficult, right? Wrong! This is the easiest pie you’re ever going to make..

 

Here’s my easy-peasy Short Crust Pastry recipe, but of course you can use ready-made if that’s what you’ve got.

https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/my-easy-short-crust-pastry/

It must be nearly Summer when this delicious and so, so easy recipe suddenly pops into my head!  A simple rolled-out pastry sheet, topped with whatever fruit you have lying around, and the edges folded in. No fiddley or fancy stuff, just a really easy recipe that’s ready as soon as you find yourself with a need for dessert..

Today it was the turn of a couple of rubbery Nectarines and a handful of really large strawberries. But apples, berries, even bananas can all be used for this convenient dessert.. My favourite is Rhubarb and Strawberry, which is just perfect to use up the last of the Rhubarb and the first of our local Strawberries So, let’s have a look – you’re going to love this!

EQUIPMENT:

• Your largest baking tray
• A sheet of baking parchment slightly larger than the tray
• A slightly damp tea towel
• a rolling pin
• Pastry brush

INGREDIENTS:

• A batch of home-made or shop-bought shortcrust pastry – about 500g
• A handful of plain flour                                            
• Egg wash – an egg whipped with a little milk
• 3-4 just-ripe Nectarines or Peaches, thinly sliced; plus 4-6 medium-sized Strawberries, sliced – or your own choice of fruit.
• 20g caster sugar
• capful of Vanilla Extract
• Demerara sugar, optional.

METHOD:

• Make up your pastry and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Put the Baking Parchment on top of the damp tea towel on the work surface.
• Heat the oven to 180 Fan
• Put the pastry directly onto the baking parchment, then roll out the pastry into a large circle on the parchment – don’t worry if the edges are uneven – it’s going to be fine!

• Sprinkle a good spoonful of Plain flour into the middle of the pastry – this is to soak up the juice from the fruit, avoiding those dreaded soggy bottoms!
• Arrange the fruit evenly over the pastry, leaving a 5cm border all around. Make it slightly higher towards the middle, because this is the bit that’s going to be seen.

• Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla extract over the fruit.
• Now fold the edges of the pastry over the Galette, a little bit at a time, until there’s a border of pastry right around the edges.

• Paint all the visible pastry liberally with the egg wash. Sprinkle with a little Demerara sugar if you like.
• Now gently slide the sheet of baking parchment off the tea towel, and onto the baking tray.
• Put the tray into the oven and give it 10 minutes at 180Fan, then reduce it to 160 for a further 20-30 minutes. When the pastry is a lovely golden colour. and the fruit is tender, it’s done!

• Serve hot or cool with a dollop of cream or a scoop of vanilla Ice-cream.

NOTES: 

• Rolling the pastry directly on the baking parchment saves the risk and heartbreak of trying to transfer a large piece of delicate pastry onto the baking tray, so do try to give that a go.
• Ready-made – or even better, ready rolled – Puff pastry works a treat for this too, as I discovered at the weekend – again I used the paper it was rolled in as the base..

• For other fruits – make sure that the pieces of fruit are sliced fairly thinly, so that they’ll cook at the same rate as the pastry. Have fun finding your favourites! My absolute favourite is Rhubarb and Strawberry – it’s the best combination ever!
• Remember that, by using unsweetened pastry, you can easily turn out a savoury Galette too – thinly sliced onions with perhaps some thyme and a sprinkle of cheese would make a delicious lunchtime treat. Adding in left-over ham or chicken will make it a substantial lunch.