112. Blueberry galette inspired by the late summer harvest

It is blueberry season! Time to load up on all things blueberry. I love blueberries, I like them in salads, muffins, pies, smoothies, cakes and of course, these lovely little galettes. This recipe is a treat, timely and super quick. So far, this gorgeous recipe is our favourite way enjoy the bountiful blueberry harvest.

Galettes are also known in Italian as "crostatas". A good blanket definition would be a rustic looking pie. Generally a galette is a freeform tart baked on a metal baking sheet. Where pie dishes have supportive sides built into the dish, the galette is flatter and without structural support. The baker folds the edges of pastry over the filling as ‘a structure’ prior to baking. The pastry is folded around and laid literally onto the filling. The edges can be loose folds or pinched, so that the galette holds the filling within the pastry shell. The end result is a rustic, uneven crust. The crust can be as thin as the baker chooses.

For this recipe, I used store bought ‘all-butter’ puff pastry that I rolled very thin. I wanted a thin crust for my family as they like the crunch of pastry but, not necessarily the pastry itself (I am not sure where they get this - I could easily and happily eat a whole sheet of crispy puff pastry with or without the filling). I chose to make individual tarts so, I used a bowl as my guide (about 4 inches in diameter) and, traced equal sized individual pastry tarts.

Illustrated below is one sheet of puff pastry. The pastry was rolled thinner and then, I traced the 4 inch bowl and cut out the individual pieces. Each tart was placed onto a baking sheet that was lined with parchment paper. The filling was carefully ladled onto each shell and, I folded and crimped the pastry to create a freeform ‘structure’. You could easily use less filling and have a flatter galette. The fabulous part of a galette is that there are no rules, fold over the dough however you want to suit your taste or aesthetic.

The blueberry filling

There are very few combinations I love more than blueberry and lemon. This filling is just that! I made personal sized galettes and once they cooled, I served them with whipped cream (ice cream would have been fabulous as well but I didn’t have any). My family ate all the galettes in one sitting and then asked why I don’t make these more often. All said, this filling is wonderful and this galette recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients

3 cups fresh blueberries

1 1/2 Tbsps cornstarch

zest of 1 lemon (I like the extra citrus but, feel free to just use 1 tsp of zest)

1 1/2 Tbsps lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar - extra for sprinkling

1 Tbsp of cream to brush the edges of the exposed dough prior to baking

1 - 2 sheets of puff pastry - each sheet is roughly 1/2 lb or 250g - rolled to the thinness you like - no need to roll thinner if you like a thicker crust.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Wash the blueberries, rinse and pat dry.

3. In a bowl add the blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, cornstarch, sugar and mix well. Set aside and roll the puff pastry.

4. Cut the puff pastry into a big 9 inch circle for one large tart or smaller individual sizes - I used a 4 inch diameter bowl as my guide for individual tarts.

5. Place the pastry on the parchment lined baking sheet and ladle the filling onto the centre of each tart. Leave a 2 inch border so that you can fold over the dough.

6. Bring the pastry edges in, overlapping the dough as you fold the pastry around the dough. Feel free to pinch the dough together as you see fit.

7. Brush the edges with cream then dust with some sugar.

8. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the dough is a beautiful golden brown.

9. Remove from the oven and, let the pastry cool slightly on the baking sheet prior to moving the galette(s) to a wire cooling rack.

10. Serve plain or with whipped cream, ice cream or whatever suits.

Serve and enjoy!