Easy Plum and Almond Galette

I made this for my friend Alisha’s birthday; she requested a dessert that was mostly fruit and not too sweet. This galette features plums and almonds with only a hint of sugar. It traveled well – I brought it for a picnic dinner on the National Mall for one of their Music in the Park nights. Because it bakes down so much, it’s easy enough to stick on a dinner plate, cover in foil (I lack the gene that allows me to use saran wrap easily), and stuff in a bag that will bounce about quite a bit while you run to catch the Metro.

Quick and Easy Plum Galette
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

You can make this galette with any stone fruit – Smitten used nectarines – but I love the interaction of plum and almond. I also liked that the hardest parts of this recipe was a) not chopping off my finger while cutting the plums and b) not dropping my food processor as I lugged it from its home in a low cabinet to the counter so I could ground my almonds (I only had regular but a quick pulse through the food processor solved that handily).

Part of the reason this recipe was so easy was that I cheated and used pre-made pie crust I bought at Whole Foods (which I don’t think I’ll use again, the Giant Grocery Store brand is better). I used the pre-made because I don’t own a rolling pin. While I know I could always use a wine bottle/alcohol bottle, but let’s be honest here. The bottles we have in this apartment are usually containing alcohol and I never remember to grab an empty before it’s recycled. One day I will come back and make this properly, homemade crust and everything, but until I own a rolling pin that isn’t happening any time soon.

Note to self: buy rolling pin ASAP.

Ingredients:

One Pie Crust – store bought or fresh (try Martha Stewart's recipe HERE)

Filling:
1 pound ripe plums (about 5)
2 tbs and 1 tsp ground almonds
1 tbs flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tbs sugar
1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

Equipment:
Baking sheet, aluminum foil or parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out your pie crust onto a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper on top of them baking sheet. Mix 2 tablespoons ground almonds, flour, and one tablespoon sugar together and sprinkle over the center of the pie crust. Make sure you leave a 1 1/2 to 2-inch border uncovered with the mixture – you’ll be folding this over the fruit.

Pit plums and then cut them in half, then cut each half into 3 sections. Place plums skin-side down onto the pie crust. To make it look pretty, try to arrange the sections into concentric circles. I couldn’t, but it still tasted great. Make sure you keep the fruit over the almond/sugar/flour combination and keep the border exposed.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the fruit.

Fold the border of the dough up and over itself, crimp (or mush together if that’s how you roll) the border to keep everything sealed and tight. When fruit gets in the way of your border, just pull the crust tight over it. Continue to do this all the way around the tart until the whole thing is folded and sealed tight.

Brush the border with melted butter and sprinkle it with two tablespoons sugar.

Bake the galette in the lower third of the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes. About 15 minutes before the baking time is over, sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon ground almonds over the galette and continues to bake.

When baking time is completed, remove the galette from the baking sheet immediately and cool on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes.

Serves 6-8