Rhubarb Galette

Don’t let the term “galette” scare you because it sounds a little fancy! A galette is simply a rustic, one-crust, pie or tart. In many ways they’re easier to make than pie.

I like galettes for a number of reasons:

• they come together quickly
• you can make them small or large with just a few changes
• they’re great if you want to make “pie” for one or two people or want to use up a small amount of fruit
• I love the rustic look
• since there’s only one crust, I don’t feel as guilty enjoying a piece!

You’ll start with your favorite pie crust recipe. If you don’t have a tried-and-true-recipe, you can find many options online. (Both Ina Garten and Alton Brown have good recipes. Note: some recipes make one crust and some, two.)

I roll out my dough a little thicker than I do for pie, probably just under ¼”.  As a rule of thumb, a crust rolled out to a 11″ – 12″ round will hold about 4 cups of prepared fruit.

Once it’s rolled out, carefully move the crust to a baking sheet that’s been covered with parchment paper or a Silpat sheet.  If it tears when you move it, patch the tear with a piece of dough from the edge and a little water. Slightly mound the filling in the center of the crust leaving about a 2″ border.

Starting on one side and continuing around, fold the border up over the filling, overlapping and pinching the dough to create a rustic edge.  While you are not too concerned about “pretty”, you want to make sure the edge will hold together to help keep liquid from spilling out as it bakes.  Having said that, there’s a good chance some will spill, but don’t worry about it, if it does.  Once folded and pinched, you can brush the dough with an egg wash, if you’d like.  I generally do not.

For the filling you can use any sort of pie filling recipe that calls for four cups of fruit. (I know that rhubarb is a vegetable but we tend to treat it as a fruit!)  Or you can add a bottom filling  under the fruit, similar to the one in this Plum Galette recipe by Jacques Pépin.  I made it over the weekend and it was great!

The filling for the rhubarb galette pictured above is:

• 4 cups of  chopped rhubarb* (about 1″ long pieces)
• a scant ½ cup granulated sugar
• a scant ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients and let sit for about 15 minutes, then mound the rhubarb on the crust as described above.

Bake at 400°F for 45 – 60 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Let cool to room temperature before cutting.  You want any juices in the galette to thicken or firm up before serving.  As with pie you can top your galette with whipped cream or ice cream.

Once you’ve made one or two galettes and see just how easy it is, you’ll enjoy coming up with your own variations.

*The rhubarb I grow is a more-green-than-red variety.  I have no idea what the name is, because I took a start from my Dad’s garden and his original plants would be about 40 years old. Rhubarb varieties run the gamut from nearly completely green to deep crimson.  If you use other varieties your rhubarb galette may be more pink or red than mine.