Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Country apple galette

Pastry:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick + 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small (1 tbsp size) pieces
1/3 C ice water

Topping

4 apples (Gala, golden delicious, tart green, or a mixture of those)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 C toasted pine nuts

Pastry
Add flour in a large bowl, cut in cold butter with pastry cutter until well mixed and flour and butter forms pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and mix until the pastry just begins to come together, about 10 seconds; you should still be able to see small pieces of butter in it. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, gather it together and pat into a disk. Wrap the pastry in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate until chilled. (You can also roll out the pastry and use it right away.)

Topping
Peel, halve and core the apples and slice them crosswise 1/4 inch thick. Set aside the larger center slices and coarsely chop the end slices and any broken ones; about half of the slices should be chopped. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
Preheat the oven to 400°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a 12-by-14-inch rectangle and transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Drizzle the honey over the chopped apples. Decoratively arrange the apple slices on top in concentric circles or in slightly overlapping rows. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and pine nuts evenly over the apples and dot with the pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples to create a 1-inch border.
Bake the galette for about 1 hour, until the pastry is nicely browned and crisp and all of the apples are tender. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the galette cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
MAKE AHEAD The buttery pastry can be refrigerated overnight.

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