Strawberry, Apple & Rhubarb Galette

I suppose I have missing out on the joy baking a fruit tart as I have been relying heavily on Sara Lee for doing most of the baking on my behalf. I must admit I never knew the existence of a galette until I ventured into the blogging business. After all it’s hard to miss if you start following Tastespotting, Foodgawker and Foodbuzz on a daily basis.

Oh rhubarb, I’ve always thought you would taste like celery. Coming from a person who never had rhubarb before, don’t you think rhubarb and celery look kinda alike?  I think my aversion towards celery has something to do with my mum’s favourite dish to cook was chicken stir fry with carrots and celery. It doesn’t taste bad but for some unknown reason that particular stir fry and me are mutually exclusive at dinner table. That said, I wouldn’t mind celery in soups as long as I don’t see them floating around. :P 

Obviously my perception of rhubarb is far from being true. Firstly, it doesn’t taste remotely to celery; secondly, its tartness provides a counter taste from overly sweet tart filling which to some people is a good thing (myself included); and I’m also loving its natural pale pink colouring which adds a touch of girlish charm to my tart filling.  Since it is quite a versatile vegetable, you can do so much with rhubarb i.e. as compote for yoghurt and ice cream, its juice extract can be made into elegant rhubarb jelly, crumble and in my case, a simple pastry called galette (or I like to think as a free form pastry).

{Rather than going for a straight rhubarb galette, I have decided to add my favourite fruits like apple and strawberry to diversify the taste of the filling.}

Strawberry, Apples & Rhubarb Galette

(A fuss free cooking recipe)

About 4 servings

Filling Ingredients:  

2 red apples, cored & diced

5 stalks rhubarb, washed & diced

6 medium sized strawberries, quartered

2 tbsps caster sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

5 tbsps water

Pastry Ingredients:

200g unsalted butter

200 g plain flour

0.5 tsp salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

Water

1 egg, lightly beaten

Method for filling:

1. In a medium sized pot, combine apple, rhubarb and sugar and 3 tbsps of water and let the mixture simmer under medium heat until the apple & rhubarb are soften. (Depending how juicy the apples & rhubarb, you may need to add more water in case the mixture begins to stick at the bottom on the pot)

2. Mix plain flour with 2 tbsps of water and add in to the mixture. Let it simmer further until the sauce thickens (look something like baby food and it shouldn’t be watery). Set aside to cool.

Method for pastry:

1. Use a food processor, process all the ingredients together except the water until resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Since I have a small food processor, what I’ve done was to transfer the breadcrumb like mixture into a mixing bowl. Add a little water at a time until it becomes pliable dough (this requires some judgement call).

3. Rest the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or more.

To make the galette:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius

2.Roll out the chilled dough about o.5 cm thick (or your desired thickness).

3. Mix the chilled filling with strawberries and pour the filling mixture onto the centre of the pastry, leaving 4 cms border. Fold the pastry edges onto the filling, form pleats to adhere the edges where necessary.

4. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg.

5. Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is deep golden brown. 

{Enjoy!}