the pollen count

Here’s another easy and healthy summer dessert you can “bake” on your grill instead of your oven. It features whatever fresh fruit you can find at the farmers market or from your own garden. I used fresh organic blueberries and blackberries, plus a nectarine, just because I love all three of those fruits and had a bounty of them all.  Peaches, plums, or cherries would also be delicious.

A galette is basically a one crust fruit pie without the hassle of fitting it into a pie pan and fooling around with crimped edges or a second crust on top. I made the crust in my food processor so it was “easy as pie”! Yikes, did I really just write that? Seriously, pie is not actually that easy so the whole point of making a galette, in my opinion, is to simplify the process. You do still have to chill the dough for about an hour but the actual work only takes about 20 minutes! The best part was baking it on my grill as part of my summer experiment to never turn on my oven. This galette recipe works so well on the grill I’m going to try a savory version, maybe with fresh tomatoes and zucchini … just waiting for my tomatoes to get ripe any day now!

RECIPE for GRILLED FRUIT GALETTE 

(Makes one 12 inch galette)

Ingredients

FILLING:

• 3 cups fresh fruit (cut peaches/nectarines into 1/2 inch slices)
• 1 TBSP lemon juice (or orange juice)
• 1-2 tsps lemon zest (or orange)
• 1-2 TBSP corn starch (more for really juicy fruit, less for berries)
• 1-2 TBSP sweetener of choice: honey, agave, coconut sugar, etc (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (optional)

CRUST:

• 1  cup plus 2TBSP  flour of your choice
• 1/4 cup corn meal
• 1 stick COLD unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
• 3-4 TBSP cold water (just put an ice cube in for a few minutes)

Directions

1. In medium bowl, toss the fresh fruit with lemon juice, zest, sweetener, corn starch and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a food processor add all the DRY ingredients and pulse a few times to mix together.
3. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to food processor. Pulse until it is consistency of cornmeal (not cornstarch)!
   
4. Slowly drizzle in cold water, pulse JUST until it comes together as a dough. Do NOT over mix!
5. Dump it out onto lightly floured waxed paper and press together into flat circle. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least an hour. Overnight is fine, too.
6. When you are ready to bake your galette, take dough from fridge and let it sit out until it’s soft enough to roll out (about 10-20 minutes). On a floured surface roll dough into approximately a 12 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.. No need for perfection here!
7. Carefully slide the rolled crust onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and pour the fruit mixture into the middle, leaving about an inch around it.
8. Fold the dough edges toward the middle, pleating if necessary.
9. Brush dough with a little beaten egg or milk if you want and sprinkle with cinnamon. This is optional.
10. Place it in center of a PREHEATED grill (around 325-350 is a good temperature). Close the grill lid and bake for 30-40 minutes. Check after about 20 minutes to make sure bottom isn’t getting too brown.   My grill doesn’t get much past 375 degrees so things don’t easily burn,   If your grill gets super hot either turn off a section or open the lid for a few minutes to cool it down. 
11. When the fruit is bubbly and crust is nicely golden brown, remove and let it cool before you slice and serve it. A pizza cutter is perfect for cutting it up.
12. Serve by itself or with a dollop of whipped cream (coconut or regular) or for a real indulgence try a scoop of ice cream😋!