Tired of fussing with pretty and perfect pies? Make a rustic peach galette instead
Think of a galette as a free form pie. Put it in a pie pan with this rustic crust and it’s a pielette. Call it what you want, but this rustic peach galette is delicious! No pie pan, no problem. Pepé says, “we don’t need no stinken pie pan.” To make this galette or any galette, you only need a sheet pan.
Let’s get our hands dirty
Don’t be afraid of pie crust, epecially this butter crust. You may screw up the first time or two, but then you are good to go. Even mediocre pie crust is better than no pie crust. It’s like driving. There’s a bit of a feel to it. The key is to not overwork the pastry dough and to work fast. Not pretty, just fast. Also, mixing the peaches with your hands will keep them from getting cut with a spoon.
Temperature is key
Keeping the ingredients cold, especially the butter is important. If you can’t work fast – take a break and put the bowl of ingredients in the fridge until you’re ready. You will be chilling it a few times before it goes into the oven, and you start biting your nails while waiting to see if you’ve succeeded or not.
Food processor or hands
I have tried both, and many people love the food processor method, but for this particular dough, I have found that I tend to overwork it when using a food processor. I always have better success with my hands because I enjoy it. How best to feel when the dough is ready than with my hands? They are the best tool in the kitchen.
OK, enough of the pep talk, let’s get to it
Making the dough
Mix all the dry ingredients together for the pastry dough in a Large bowl. Cut chilled butter into small cubes and add to the bowl. Use a pastry cutter to blend the dry ingredients with the flour mixture turning the bowl as you go.
Once dough is large crumbly pieces (still looks dry), Add the chilled vanilla and 3 tablespoons of the water. Start to work it together with your hands, but work fast and don’t let the butter melt. Transfer it to your work surface for finishing, and add more water, one tablespoon at a time as needed. Do not over work the dough. This dough will not be a smooth silky dough. It will stick together, but you will still see small bits of butter throughout (about small pea size). See video for how I use a bench scraper to mix the dough once it’s on the work surface. You are basically folding the dough and butter into layers.
Make into a small disc, wrap with cling film and let rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Peeling the peaches
While it’s resting, start a small pan of water boiling (ignore my image of a big pan – you only need to submerge one peach at a time). You will also need a large bowl of ice water (enough to hold all the peaches). Gently submerge one peach into the boiling water, count to ten, pull it out and place in ice bath.
Use a small knife to grab the peach skin and pull it off. Slice into 1/2%
