Easier than pie: Peach Blueberry Galette

Peaches, blueberries and thyme create a summery, not-too-sweet filling for this rustic, less-daunting-than-pie galette. Recipe below.

THE GUY WHO ALMOST NEVER BAKES—and certainly never bakes pies—just baked an almost pie. A rustic fruit galette. I blame my colleagues.

The ad agency where I work has a fun committee whose job it is to see that we have even more fun than we do on most days at work (remember Record Store Day?). Their latest idea of fun was a pie bake-off. We have some serious bakers in our office, and I don’t bake, and absolutely don’t bake pies. My plan was to join my other non-baking colleagues as an enthusiastic taster and judge.

Then I remembered galettes.

These French free-form tarts, called crostata in Italy, are famously unfussy. Unlike pies, they are meant to look rustic and imperfect. To me, that look is earthy and beautiful and inviting. And unlike pie crusts, galette crusts don’t require pricking with a fork or par-baking with pie weights. No perfect crimping of crust edges and fretting about shrinkage. And, most certainly, no weaving of lattice tops.

For galettes, you simply roll out a basic pastry dough into an approximate circle, pile the filling in the middle and fold up the edges, pleating the dough over itself. Imperfections aren’t just forgiven—they’re expected. I’d never baked one of these either, but it felt doable. Despite a few trepidations and first-time fumbles, it was.

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Peach Blueberry Galette

Peaches, blueberries and thyme create a summery, not-too-sweet filling for this rustic, less-daunting-than-pie galette.

Servings 6 to 8 slices

Equipment

• special equipment: parchment paper, a hotel pan or baking sheet

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1-1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar divided
• 1 large egg
• milk half & half or cream
• 1 stick unsalted butter 1/4 pound, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons iced water

For the filling:

• 2 cups thinly sliced ripe peaches about 2 peaches
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves optional, but recommended
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 3-1/3 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

• Prepare the crust. Put flour, salt and 1 tablespoon sugar into a food processor and pulse to combine. Lightly beat the egg in a measuring cup. Add enough milk, half & half or cream to measure 1/3 cup, then beat to combine. Add butter to food processor and pulse a few times; you want the butter in pea-sized pieces, not totally combined.
• Drizzle 1/4 cup of the egg mixture over the dough and pulse until it starts to come together. (Reserve the rest of the egg mixture, covering and refrigerating it.) Don't overprocess. Transfer dough to a bowl and add iced water, mixing it in with your hands. Form dough into a disk, wrap with plastic and chill for 20 to 30 minutes (see Kitchen Notes).
• Prepare the filling. In a large bowl, combine fruit, thyme leaves, sugar, lemon juice and zest, and cornstarch. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to thoroughly combine. Let it macerate for 10 minutes or so, then drain it briefly in a colander. You don't want to lose all the juices, but you want to avoid having the crust get too soggy.
• Make the galette. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Lightly flour a large square of parchment paper (more than 12 inches across). Using a rolling pin (we love the KMN Aluminum Rolling Pin, with inch markings that show you the diameter of the crust as you roll it out), roll out your crust into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Gently slide parchment paper with crust onto the hotel pan or baking sheet.
• Mound fruit in the middle of the crust and spread it out evenly, leaving a 1-1/2-inch border around the edges. Gently fold the crust up over the fruit filling, pleating it to hold in the fruit. Again, imperfect is perfect. Brush the crust generously with the remaining egg mixture. Sprinkle crust with remaining tablespoon of sugar.
• Place hotel pan on middle rack of oven and bake galette for 35 to 45 minutes. Crust should be golden brown, and filling should be bubbling. Transfer hotel pan to wire rack and cool at least 20 minutes, or to room temperature. Serve it warm or at room temperature.
• Make ahead: Store the completely cooled galette in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Kitchen Notes

Chill how long? Most galette recipes recommend chilling the dough for at least 2 hours and up to overnight before rolling out. I stored it for several hours because I couldn't get to baking the galette right away. When I took the dough out of the fridge, it was far too stiff to roll out. Letting it rest on the counter while I prepared the fruit filling proved long enough to soften it for rolling.

And how was it? I did not win the pie bake-off. (I work with serious bakers.) But it was seriously delicious, fresh and not too sweet—and the thyme leaves added a subtle extra layer. The unfussy crust? Perfectly crusty, in a satisfyingly rustic sort of way.