I know that this isn’t exactly ~seasonal~ but I saw some cute pears at the store and just couldn’t help myself. Originally I had planned on making a crumble of some sort but I recently got a food processor and wanted to use it to make some pie dough so, here we are with a galette! This type of rustic tart, a galette, is so fun, and so much less fuss than a proper pie. Imagine a pile of fruit on top of a large circle of pie dough with the edges of the crust folded over the outer edges of the pile of fruit. It’s always going to look beautiful!
However, I couldn’t have just any old tart situation. I’ve seen red wine poached pears before and I once had the most amazing appetizer at a local restaurant of red wine caramel with cheese, so I made a red wine caramel sauce to go with the galette! I tested out two versions for making this, one where you make the caramel and then add the red wine and the other where you combine the sugar and red wine and let it cook down together. While the second version was simpler, it also had less flavor and was a bit grainy. So trust me, even though it’s the harder way, it’s absolutely worth the effort!
Let’s look at all of these tasty components:
- the pie dough – I made mine in a food processor but you can also do it by hand! I’ll include a link to an old post of mine for instructions by hand. I think that doing it by hand will create a flakier crust, but either works beautifully! Store bought dough works too, if that’s the route you want to take! no shame in using premade ingredients, ever.
- the fruit – I used pears here, but really any fruit that isn’t too watery will work here! The biggest fear with galettes is too much liquid which will create a soggy bottom. If you’re really worried you can add a couple tablespoons of almond flour under the fruit to absorb the liquid but I found it wasn’t necessary with the pears
- the spices – I kept the spices pretty light so that the flavor of the pears and caramel could shine! It’s all up to your taste though, so feel free to add some more
- the sugar – the demerara sugar is optional, you can definitely use granulated sugar instead, but I absolutely love the crunch it brings! Some textural variation is ideal in every meal, I think
- the red wine caramel – so, so good. honestly, it’s the best part. It would be amazing on all kinds of things, especially vanilla ice cream! Try it out and put it on everything, you’ll be so happy
That’s it! This one comes together so well and stores beautifully too. Let me know how it goes if you try it out!
Rustic Pear Tart
makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients
for the pie dough
- 1.5 cups (180g) flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick (113g) butter, very cold, cubed
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinear
- 2-4 tbsp ice water
for the pear filling
- 2 pears
- 1/3 cup (67g) sugar
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 (43g) cup slivered almonds
- 1 egg
- 2-3 tbsp demerara sugar, or additional granulated sugar
for serving (all optional)
- red wine caramel sauce (recipe below)
- ice cream
- whipped cream
How to do it
- make the pie dough
with a food processor: in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. add the cubed butter and pulse a 3-4 times. drizzle the apple cider vinegar and 2 tbsp ice water into the bowl and pulse until it starts to come together into a dough. if it isn’t coming together, add water 1 tbsp at a time until it does. wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day
by hand: in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. add the cubed butter and use two forks or your fingertips to squish the butter into the flour until only pea sized chunks remain. drizzle the apple cider vinegar and 2 tbsp ice water into the bowl and mix with a spoon or your hands until it starts to come together. add additional water 1 tbsp at a time as needed until the dough just comes together. wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day - prep for baking: preheat the oven to 400*
- make the filling: cut the pears in half and remove the seeds and stem. cut into slices that are about 1/4″ thick. in a large bowl, combine the sliced pears, sugar, flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, and almonds.
- roll out the dough: lightly flour a large sheet of parchment paper. roll out the dough on the parchment paper to a circle about 12″ across. spread the prepared filling out into a 9″ circle in the middle of the dough. gently take the edges of the dough and fold them up on top of the outer edge of the circle of fruit. it’s supposed to look rustic and will be beautiful!
- prep and bake: make an egg wash by mixing the egg and 1 tsp of water. brush any flour off of the exposed dough then brush on the egg wash. top with demerara sugar and bake in a preheated oven for 22-25 minutes until the dough it a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling
- cool and enjoy: let cool fully before slicing and enjoying! serve with red wine caramel sauce, or ice cream, or on its own!
Red Wine Caramel Sauce
makes 1 cup
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 (268g) cup sugar
- 1 1/3 cup (10.6 oz) red wine
- 1 Tbsp butter
- pinch salt
How to do it
- make the caramel: add the sugar to a medium pot. heat over medium high heat, not stirring, until the sugar has melted. this will take a few minutes, but be patient! it’ll happen. once the sugar melts, continue cooking until it becomes a deep amber color
- add the wine: remove the pot from the heat and stir while adding the wine. the caramel will immediately harden, but that’s okay! return to the heat and cook until the caramel has re-melted and the whole mixture has reduced and coats the back of a spoon
- finish it off: remove from the heat and add the butter and salt. stir to combine, let cool, and enjoy! store in an airtight container.
The red wine sauce sounds divine!
I absolutely love how it came out! It’s perfect on basically anything