Ingredients
Pastry
1½ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. granulated sugar
1 stick, 8T butter, cut into cubes and cold
8T ice cold water
Filling:
1½ pounds apricots
3T ground raw almonds
5T granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1. Pastry: In a food processor, add the flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse a few times until combined. Add the butter and then pulse until the mixture has bits of butter the size of peas.
2. Add the cold water and pulse just until the mixture starts to come together. It will look shaggy.
3. Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic film. Use the plastic to bring the dough together. Flatten the dough into a disk and chill for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400° F. If you have a pizza stone, place it on a rack in the middle of the oven.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a circle about 14 inches diameter. Then transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet pan. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
6. Fruit: Cut the apricots in half and remove the pit. (If they are large, cut into quarters).
7. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Sprinkle the ground almonds onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border.
8. Place the apricots skin-side up on top of the almonds, fitting them closely against each other. Sprinkle the 3tablespoons of sugar over the apricots.
9. Fold the dough border over the fruit, forming pleats and making sure that there are no holes. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
10. Place the tart into the 400° F oven onto the pizza stone for 40-45 minutes, until brown and bubbling.
11. Remove the tart from the baking sheet by pulling on the parchment paper and sliding the paper and the tart onto a cooling rack. Cool for 20-30 minutes until the fruit juices have set.
12. When cool, cut into slices. It’s even better served with whipped cream or ice cream.
TIPS & TRICKS
• I make several recipes of the pastry dough, wrap them in the plastic film, and then place them in a freezer zip lock bag. They will last in your freezer for six months. When ready to use, remove one from the freezer and allow to defrost in the refrigerator. Then follow the recipe from step #4.
• You can substitute the apricots with other stone fruit, such as peaches, nectarines, or plums.
• You can buy ground almonds or just take a ¼ cup of whole raw almond and “grind” them in your food processor. The nuts add a little texture to the crust and help absorb some of the fruit juice.
• You can substitute turbinado sugar for the granulated sugar for a little extra crunch.
• Cooking the galette on the pizza stone helps makes the crust very crisp.
• Sliding the galette on to the cooling rack helps keep the crust from getting soggy while it cools.
• Galette is best severed warm to room temperature.