Apple Galette for Pi Day

March 14th, as every math student knows, was Pi Day, so to celebrate I made an apple galette. These pies without a pie pan are easily made at home or in a dutch oven when camping. I would recommend that you have some experience cooking in a dutch oven before making this, though.

Any recipe for a basic pie crust is acceptable for this recipe. for my crust I used:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
8 tablespoons (1/4 lb.) butter, chilled and cut into cubes
4-5 tablespoons apple jack (apple cider if you are a minor), chilled

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter and with a pastry cutter or your fingertips cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the apple jack or cider (you can also use cold water) one tablespoon at a time and stir the mixture until it just comes together as a dry but sicky dough. You may not need the fifth tablespoon of liquid. Form the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for an hour to let the dough fully hydrate and the butter firm up again before rolling.

While the dough is resting, it's time to make the filling. I used the following:

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 12 slices
2 pink lady apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 12 slices
1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
2 tablespoons butter

Melt the butter in a 12 inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat. When the butter stops foaming, add the apples and cook, stirring often until softened and slightly browned at the edges, about 10-12 minutes. Add the brown suger and nutmeg and stir until the liquid is syrupy and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Stir in the walnuts and remove from the heat.(Fig. 1) Set this aside to cool until the dough is ready.

Figure 1 - Apple and Walnut Filling

After the dough has chilled for an hour, roll it out on a lightly floured work surface until you have a 16 inch round. Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it well and carefully transfer the pie crust to the baking sheet. Pour the apple mixture onto the center of the crust, making a mound that is about 8 inches across and 2 inches high. Gently fold the edges of the dough over the apples, forming pleats as you go around and leaving a four inch wide opening at the top. Beat one egg in a bowl and brush this egg wash over the dough to create a nice brown crust. Bake in a 375 dgreee oven for 45 minutes. Use the parchment paper to help transfer the galette to a cooling rack. (Fig. 2) After 30-45 minutes transfer to a large plate for service.(Fig. 3) This dish can be served slightly warm or at room temperature and it goes great with homemade vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.

Figure 2 - Galette Cooling on Wire Rack

Figure 3 - Ready to Eat !