Easier Than Pie

Who came up with the phrase easy as pie?

And are they referring to the making of pie or the eating of pie because eating pie is easy. I could do it all day.

In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that if someone decided that eating pie should be a job, I would be the first person in line to apply, resume documenting years of experience in-hand.

Making pie is another story.

I’ve been baking for years and to this day, nothing gives me as much trouble as pie.

Fruit pies specifically.

Bourbon chocolate pecan pie? I can do it with my eyes closed.

Sweet potato or pumpkin pies? Yep, I’m good there too.

Ice cream or pudding pies? All day.

Apple or peach pies? Pass.

I’m sure it’s a matter of just needing more practice but all it takes is one bad pie to turn you off from pie making for a while.

I was sitting at the computer the other day, eating a cake batter rice krispy treat with one hand, typing with the other (because I’m a multitasker), and I suddenly remembered some pie dough that I had just sitting in the fridge. Then I remembered all of the apples and plums we had just gotten from our organic produce delivery service that were overloading my crisper drawer. Then I remembered that packet of raw sugar that my mom made me stuff in my purse when we went out to breakfast last weekend.

My mind automatically went straight to pie. Did yours too? Do you also think about desserts while you’re already eating other sweet treats… or is that just me?

Remembering how much I stink at fruit-filled pie making, I had a brief WWID (what would Ina do?) moment and then realized that if I know Ina as well as I think I do after watching hundreds of episodes of her show over the last several years, I know that she’d probably roll out that dough, dump some sugared fruit into the center, fold up the edges, and bake until golden.

Then she’d serve it to Jeffrey after his dinner of roasted chicken.

So that’s just what I did. Minus the chicken.

You can call it a crostata (Italian) or a galette (French).

Just don’t say that it’s as easy as pie, because it’s easier!

First, slice up some fruit. I used 3 small Gala apples and 2 plums but you could use apricots, pears, nectarines, pluots, peaches, you get the idea.

Dump the fruit into a bowl and add:

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons of flour

zest and juice of one lemon

2 -3 tablespoons of butter cut into cubes

Then sprinkle on some cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg or just use some apple pie spice if you have it. I used pumpkin pie spice because it’s all I had and it worked just fine.

Mix everything up until the fruit is evenly covered and set it aside to do its thing for a few minutes while you flour your counter and roll out some store-bought pie dough.

Keep your dough in as much of a circular shape as possible, just roll it out a little.

Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

Now, you can either dump that fruit right in the middle of that dough or you can arrange it into nice neat layers. The choice is yours. Just make sure that the yummy juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the bowl make their way onto that fruit too.

Fold up the edges of the dough as neatly as you please, brush them with egg wash (egg beaten with a couple teaspoons of water) and then sprinkle some sugar on the crust.

If your dough cracks, just pinch it back together gently. If your fruit slips outof place, gently coax it back into its rightful spot.

Or just throw it in the oven as is and tell your friends and family that you’ve made a “rustic fruit galette”.

Sounds fancy, no?

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

To make the fruit shiny and pretty, gently heat some honey or apricot preserves and brush on top of the fruit when the galette comes out of the oven.