Stone Cold

Peach. Yeah. My local mini farmers market has a total of 5 vendors, tops. Each week there is a tent that promotes the Greenmarkets throughout the city and each week they pick a different topic to highlight. Last week's was stone fruit. So...I loaded up on white peaches, yellow peaches, white nectarines, and apricots. Since there was no way I was eating them all in one sitting, I made a galette. Well, a rustic tart. Actually...I'm unsure of the proper French definition of a galette which I've read described as a flat cake. Other definitions describe it as a free-form rustic tart, so there you go. That's what I made.



The cool thing about making a rustic tart is that you don't need a special pan and you don't have to roll out the dough into a perfect circle. The imperfections are fully acceptable. And my dough is totally easy. But...I guess if you are super scared about making your own dough, just buy a decent store made dough and then follow the directions for making the galette below, and I'm pretty sure, no one will be onto you. Except me.

Peach Galette

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg yolk

Egg wash:
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water
Sugar

Filling:
6 medium peaches (white, yellow or both), cored and cut into 1/4” wedges (peeled if you prefer)
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the raw fruit)
3 tablespoons flour

1. Make the crust: Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, mix the cold water with the egg yolk and add it to the flour mixture. Stir in just until a dough forms. (Add additional 1 tablespoon water if the dough is too dry to hold together.) Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, mix the peaches, sugar, and flour until combined.

4. Roll out the dough to a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a large baking sheet. (Refrigerate for 10 minutes if the dough becomes very soft after rolling it out.) Spoon the fruit mixture over the cold dough, allowing it to mound in the center, leaving a 2-inch border of dough. Fold the dough border partially over the filling to form an 11-inch round. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake the pie until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender, rotating halfway through baking, about 40 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream. Makes 8 servings.