Plum & Raspberry Galette

Sunday, July 6, 2008

I got some plums from The Farm that were just a bit too tart for me to eat. I decided to make a simple galette with them. Basically a rustic tart with a fruit filling. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough plums for the entire thing so I used an equal amount of raspberries. The raspberries I bought this weekend from the Spooner Farms berry stand down the street. I got a half flat each of them as well as strawberries. Every year I get a bunch of berries and freeze them flat on plastic wrap lined cookie sheets. Once they are hard, I throw them into labeled bags and pop them back in the freezer to take out during the winter. By freezing them individually, I can use as many as I want without having a huge clump that I have to chisel through. In all my strawberry eating years, I don't think I have tasted strawberries as good as the ones this weekend. I seriously regret not eating half the box. I'm not joking. They were that good.





Anyway, back to my recipe. Very few things are beyond my cooking ability, but pie crust is something that intimidates the crap out of me. It just seem like an insurmountable task to me. Don't get me wrong, I've made them before, but I always get slightly stressed about it. Will my pie crust be flaky? Will it stay together? Way more than I want to deal with. So I use premade pie crust from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I know that seems very unlike me to not make it myself, but I just can't do it. My crust was in the freezer so I think that the quality may have been compromised due to the age that I couldn't quite pin down. I didn't really care though because I just needed to use the plums and clean out the freezer. My crust cracked in places while baking and was an utter mess all over the cookie sheet. Next time not using a watery fruit like raspberries and using a better crust would probably prevent that from happening.

Note: you can use a myriad of fruits in a galette. Peaches, Nectarines, Apples,Blueberries, etc. Feel free to substitue. Also, serve it with ice cream or whipped cream. (Especially if using tart fruits)

Plum & Raspberry Galette

3 plums, cut into medium sized chunks
1.5 cups raspberries
zest of one lime (could use lemon)
approx. 1/2 cup sugar (adjust according to tartness of fruit & taste)
2 Tbsp. flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all the ingredients together in large bowl (except pie crust). Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Set your pie crust on the sheet and pour fruit mixture into the middle. Even out the fruit, leaving a 2 inch rim of crust. Fold crust up over the fruit, pinching at intervals, and leaving the middle of the fruit exposed. Put in the oven for 40-60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for an hour or so before slicing.