End of the Summer Nectarine Galette

About two weeks ago, I set out to make a nectarine pie. I bought some nectarines, mixed up a batch of pie dough, and set it in the fridge to chill. And when I got to making the filling, I realized that the whole carton of nectarines was rotten and there were ants in the sugar! Infuriating! I was going on vacation, so I threw the pie dough in the freezer and tried to forget the whole debacle.

Last night I finally bought fresh nectarines and another box of sugar, but instead of making a pie, I thought I would try a galette, instead. Galettes are so much less fussy, and also smaller, which is good for a household of only three. Pies always end up being thrown away almost whole, because we can never eat that much pie. And now that I realize how much easier galettes are, I will very likely make them all the time. Who need a pie pan, anyway? They are just excess kitchenware.

This was really the easiest dessert in the world. Pie dough might seem intimidating, but last summer I found a recipe that has proven virtually failure proof: Bon Appetit’s “Best Ever Pie Crust.” Now, I haven’t tasted every pie crust in the world so I’m not sure I can wholeheartedly support that “best ever” appellation. I can, though, say that this is one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever used. I sometimes leave out the sugar, too, to make a very simple savory dough. If you can seek out the July 2007 issue of Bon Appetit I’d recommend it. It is full of helpful hints that take all of the scare-factor out of pie crust.

The hardest part of making this galette was cutting up the nectarines. Stone fruits always frustrate me, what with my disinclination to get messy. There is just no way to slice them without getting your hands in there and forcefully pulling the fruit from the clingy pit. Ok, maybe there is another way, but I don’t know what it is, and hence tend to peaches, plums, and nectarines because of those pesky pits. If any of you have stone fruit cutting advice for me, I’d be happy to hear it.

Nectarine Galette

• 1/2 batch of pie crust (basically enough for a bottom crust)
• 3 ripe nectarines
• 1/4 c. sugar
• about 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Slice the nectarines, using whatever strong arm tactics might be necessary, and throw them into a bowl. Add the sugar, ginger, and vanilla extract, and stir well so that nectarines are coated and sugar starts to turn a bit liquid-y.

Roll out the pie crust to about 1/8 inch thickness. It doesn’t need to be perfectly round or anything, that is the beauty of a galette. Messy is a-ok.

Now just arrange the nectarine slices in the center of the pie dough round, overlapping them to create some kind of basic ring/fan pattern. Again, it doesn’t really matter, so long as you leave about two inches of pie dough in a ring around the fruit. Gently fold the excess pie dough ring up and over the fruit filling, pleating it a little as you go so it forms a neat (or at least sort of neat) circle.

Sprinkle with a bit more sugar if you feel like it. You could also brush the top with egg whites, but I was feeling lazy. Then just bake it at 350F for an hour. Let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting, and then serve up a simple, very summery dessert.

I still have half a pie dough recipe in my freezer, and I’ve been itching to make hand pies. I feel like I have been seeing them all over the food blogs this summer, and I want to do one last summery fruit pie before fall hits here in New England. Honestly, some mornings this week felt like fall had already hit. I can hardly believe it’s labor day weekend and I’m starting classes again next Wednesday! Madness. I’m pretty grateful that we have a barbecue planned for next weekend, to remind us all that just because labor day is over doesn’t mean summer is.

I’m a little disappointed that my kitchen inspiration was so pathetic for so much of the summer. I am still feeling like I really don’t have any ideas about things I want to make, but I suspect that as soon as my schedule gets busy again, I’ll be bombarded with cravings. Isn’t that always the way?

But maybe I can also rely on you, my faithful readers (heh heh). Is there anything you want to see here? Anything you’ve maybe always wanted to try but haven’t? I’m willing to get out there, do something crazy and elaborate, get messy, even get my kitchen messy (gasp!) for any suggestions you might want to make.

Otherwise, it’ll be frozen pizza and boxed mac n’ cheese for me again this week.