We love galettes - they’re the perfect pie for lazy people. You make a soft pie dough, smoosh it out into a circle on some parchment, throw your filling in the middle, then fold the edges over, leaving the middle open. Toss it in the oven, go have a glass of wine, or cook dinner, or both. That’s absolutely it. One of the coolest things about galettes is that you can fill them with so many different things. I’ve been using fruits I froze last summer, peaches and raspberries, or peaches and blueberries, or plums all by themselves. Pears are nice, too. You can leave the sugar out of the dough and make savory galettes - my favorite filling is sautéed chanterelle mushrooms (also out of my freezer - they were cheap last fall) and Spanish manchego cheese. I’ve also made them with a combination of caramelized onions, sautéed tomato slices, and gruyere cheese.

Ok, this is easy. Start by preheating the oven to 400°, and mix the pastry.

Dough ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
(2 tablespoons sugar if you’re making a sweet tart, none if you’re making a savory tart)
8 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons water, plus a little

Mix the flour, salt, and add the sugar if you’re using it. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. (I love my wire-type pastry blender; I’ve cut myself on the other type) You should have little bits of dough that are kind of pea sized. Gently mix in the water until the dough forms a ball - you may need a little extra water. It’s fine if this dough is a bit mushy - you don’t need a really flaky pastry like if you were making a fancy pie.

Roll the dough out on parchment paper on a baking sheet. It should be about 13″ across, but the edges can be rough, it’s not important that it be perfectly round. Put about 2 cups of filling in the middle and fold the edges of the dough over, leaving an open space in the middle - the parchment paper will help you with the folding. If I’m using a fruit filling, I sprinkle it with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and a little cinnamon before I fold the dough over. (also, the fruit doesn’t have to be thawed, you can use it still frozen)

Your finished galette should be about 8″ across. Bake for 30-40 minutes. I start it at 30 minutes and check it to see if the pastry is browning nicely.

That’s it! Galettes are lovely when served warm or at room temperature, all by themselves, or with some ice cream.

Here are other galettes on the internet:

Butternut squash and caramelized onion from Smitten Kitchen

Wild mushroom and stilton cheese, also from Smitten Kitchen

Apple galette from Pinch My Salt

Plum, raisin, and pecan from Simply Recipes

Potato and gruyere (kind of like a gratin in a crust) from Fine Cooking