I was planning to make apple pie for my kids and my husband who have all been bugging me for days to make one, I told them I will after a trip to the supermarket, I can’t make apple pie without apples, right?
We went grocery shopping, went home with everything we need but the apples, I can’t believe there are no fuji apples available (I only use this variety for my for my pie) that time, but I don’t want to disappoint my two angels and grabbed a pack of pears.
I decided to make my lazy-day pie, the rustic free-form pie/ tart better known as crostata in Italian and galette in French. I chose this recipe from Cooking Light, I was WOWed by the photo.
It looks really yummy (although my photo is not as appetizing to look at, but hey, I made it and it definitely tastes better than it looks) and I got intrigued by the cheese in the recipe, I’ve never tried adding cheese at the bottom of the pie before.
![pear_gallette_with_caramel pear_gallette_with_caramel](https://www.latestrecipes.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pear_gallette_with_caramel.gif)
You have got to try this one too, the pear tastes a lot like apple, but the cheese at the bottom definitely add a little something, something to the pie and the caramel, I can’t believe I almost skip this part (I knew that the caramel will harden once cooled and I don’t really like it) but I’m glad that I stuck to the original recipe.
It made a whole lot of difference. My husband love the crunch, a nice contrast to the soft filling. I loved it too; the kids? They’re just happy with their pie and still think it’s apple crostata with caramel.
Pear Galette
Equipment
Ingredients
FOR THE GALETTE:
- Cooking Spray
- ½ pack Pie Dough 15ounce pack / pillsbury brand / refrigerated
- ½ cup Aged Sharp Cheddar Cheese 2ounces / shredded
- 5 pcs Ripe Bartlett Pears or D'Anjou Pears / peeled / cored / cut into 1inch slices / I used early pear
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- ¼ cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
FOR THE CARAMEL:
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
FOR THE PASTRY DOUGH:
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 stick Butter cold / diced
- 2 tablespoon Water Iced
Instructions
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE PASTRY DOUGH FROM SCRATCH:
- Sift flour, sugar and salt in a bowl, cut-in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs, add water and mix til just combined.
- Form into a ball and flatten into a disk.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.
FOR THE GALETTE:
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Line a jelly roll pan with foil, and coat foil with cooking spray.
- Roll dough into an 11-inch circle, place on baking sheet.
- Sprinkle crust with cheese, leaving a 1-inch border.
- Combine pears, juice, and nutmeg in a large bowl, toss well.
- Add brown sugar and flour, toss gently.
- Arrange fruit on dough leaving a 2 inch border.
- (Pears will be piled high on dough)
- Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal.
- (dough will only partially cover pears)
- Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.
- (filling may leak slightly during cooking)
- Cool galette on a wire rack.
FOR THE CARAMEL:
- Heat granulated sugar in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
- Stirring as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 4 minutes).
- Cook 1 minute or until golden.
- Remove from heat.
- Drizzle over galette.