Plum Galette

I make quiches often. They're relatively easy, I can add whatever I have in the garden, and we usually have fresh eggs. It's a good fall back meal. Though while trimming the access pastry away from the crust, I end up with a small dilemma. There is often too much to throw away, but not enough to make another normal sized crust. So, I usually take the excess, form it into a small disk, wrap it up, and throw it in the freezer. Out of sight out of mind. Then I end up with a heap of mini pastry dough disks floating around aimlessly in the freezer.

This time I did something very unusual. I stepped out of my painfully predictable routine and restrained myself from adding another little disk to the heap. Here we have arrived at galettes.

The French use the term to describe a free form, flat, flaky pastry. They are a joy to eat, a tad disheveled, and at the same time, impressive. A wonderful use for extra pastry dough. You can fill them with almost anything you desire, savory or sweet.

I happened to have a handful of ripe organic plums, which thankfully offered their services. Apples, figs, peaches, pears or persimmons could have easily taken up the same role. Either way, it's difficult to go wrong.

Here is a link to Chez Pim, a blog I enjoy, with a brief video on making a galette with almond butter. I kept things even simpler by adding little more than a touch of butter, cinnamon, honey and pecans.

Plum Galette:

*Excess pastry dough from one quiche (see recipe below)

*1 organic plum, sliced in thin sections

*pinch of cinnamon

*1 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, divided into small pieces

*1 tsp. honey

*2 Tbsp pecan pieces

Basic pastry crust: (makes enough for one quiche, and one small galette, or one large galette)

*1 1/4 cups organic flour

*8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

*1/2 tsp sea salt

*3-4 Tbsp ice water

Place flour and salt in a food processor fitted with a blade. Blend. Add the cold butter and blend to a course meal. With blade running, slowly add the ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms. Transfer dough onto a floured work surface. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap or parchment and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Remove from freezer and unwrap. Return to floured work surface. Roll dough to desired thickness, about 1/4 inch. Place in a pie dish if making a pie or quiche and trim away edges. Use trimmings for a small galette or use entire pastry recipe for a larger version.

Preheat oven to 350. Reform dough into a disk (if using trimmings). Roll out to 1/4 thickness. Transfer to a small baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough with cinnamon. Arrange plum slices in center of dough circle.

Fold edges inward toward the plums to create an outer crust. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and bits of the tablespoon of butter. Drizzle with honey and top with pecan pieces.

Bake until fruit bubbles and crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack before slicing and serving.