I’m a lazy cook at heart. Sign me up for anything that’s unfussy, uncomplicated and if there’s a shortcut involved, all the better. That’s why I opt for recipes like this rustic strawberry galette. The pastry dough is forgiving — and I wouldn’t judge if you bought frozen pie dough — and the filling is super simple to make.
When you’re making the dough, the trick is to add just enough water to combine. You don’t want to over work the dough, so use your food processor’s pulse feature to turn it on and off while you’re mixing. There should be some small flecks of butter left in tact when the dough comes together; those pieces melt and let off steam when they hit the oven, which is what creates a flaky crust.
When I roll out my pastry dough, I use my kitchen counter. Marble is the perfect surface because it’s cold and smooth, but a flour-dusted wood cutting board works well too. Dust the counter and the dough with flour, and rotate the dough while you’re rolling it out so it doesn’t stick to the counter. Use a light tough, you want to be gentle so you don’t overwork it and smash those precious bits of butter.
Fold the edges of the dough over the filling and then brush the exposed pastry with an egg wash and dust with Turbinado sugar. Once your pastry dough is made and rolled out, it takes all of 15 minutes to assemble and get this strawberry galette in the oven.
Use any type of berry filling or pitted stone fruit in this recipe — I also love it with a combination of quartered apricots and pitted cherries. And not that you need one more reason to love rosé in the summer, but it does pair perfectly with ripe summer strawberries.
Rustic Strawberry Galette
Prep
Cook
Total
A simple and unfussy dessert that is basically a freeform pie.
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or Cup4Cup gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons ice water (don’t use all of it right away, add it slowly until just combined. You may not need all the water.)
- Filling
- ½ cup ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled, and halved
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- Egg wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, blend flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter pieces and pulse using on/off turns until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size pieces of butter. Add two tablespoons ice water; blend just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. The trick is to not overwork the dough, you want little bits of butter distributed throughout the dough, that's what will give it a flaky texture. Gather dough into a ball and softly flatten into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough and transfer to a cold surface lightly coated with flour, a clean marble counter works great for this. Gently press the dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an additional 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap the chilled dough and place on a piece of parchment paper. Dust the dough lightly with flour. Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper and roll into a circle. Carefully peel off the top piece of parchment paper, and transfer the dough along with the bottom piece of parchment onto a rimmed baking sheet.
- For the filling, in a medium size bowl, whisk together almonds, cornstarch, and ¼ cup of sugar. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared pastry. Be sure to leave about a 2-inch border around the edge of the pastry. Use the same bowl to combine the strawberries and almond extract if desired. Spoon the berries carefully on top of the almond mixture.
- Using a bench scraper, carefully fold the edges of the pastry up and over the strawberry filling. If any rips form, gently pinch with your fingers to seal.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk; whisk to combine. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the edges of the galette with the egg wash (this makes it shiny and golden; if you have egg or milk allergies it won't change the flavor if you leave these out). Lightly sprinkle the edges of the pastry with Turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 55 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the strawberry juices are bubbling. Cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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