Basil-Peach Galettes
Rustic tarts filled with ripe peaches and mascarpone cheese, with a hint of basil and cinnamon. Simple to make, and gorgeous to look at.
This recipe was originally featured in Peaches: the Good, the Bad and the Mealy in our Mostly Plants recipe series.
Makes 4 personal galettes.
Ingredients
Basil-Peach Galette made in the Adventure Kitchen.
4 medium ripe peaches
1-3 teaspoons sugar (see note in Step 1 below), plus more for sugaring the crust
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Ceylon or cassia cinnamon (see notes)
Pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons minced fresh basil (about 20 leaves), plus more for garnish if desired
1 disk pate brisee pie crust, cold
Flour for rolling out the pastry
8 Tablespoons mascarpone cheese
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with the rack in the middle position.
2. Peel and core the peaches and cut them into thin wedge-shaped slices, about 1/8 inch thick. Put the slices in a medium bowl and taste one small slice to gauge sweetness. If your peaches are extremely sweet (as they likely are at the height of ripeness), add just 1 teaspoon of the sugar. If they are less sweet, you'll want to add more sugar, up to the full 3 teaspoons if needed. Add the lemon juice, cinnamon, salt and 2 teaspoons minced basil and stir to combine.
3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and cut the disk of pate brisee into four equal pieces. Put 3 of the pieces in the refrigerator to rest while you roll out the fourth.
4. Roll the pate brisee into a circle 1/8 inch thick. Trim the rolled pastry (a bench scraper makes this easy) into an even circle roughly 6 inches in diameter. (Reserve the trimmings in case they are needed to beef up the other galettes). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the pastry onto the parchment.
5. Use the back of a spoon to smear 2 Tablespoons of the mascarpone cheese in an even layer to cover the center of the rolled pastry, leaving a border of about 1 1/4 inches all the way around. Arrange one-fourth of the peach slices attractively on top of the cheese in such a way that they are slightly mounded in the center, and taper a bit as they reach the edge of the circle. (For a traditional French look, you can arrange them in a circular pattern like we did, or any other pattern you like.)
6. Working section by section around the circle, carefully fold the edges of the pastry over the peaches, leaving a gap of uncovered peaches in the middle. Slide the galette to one corner of the parchment to make room for the other galettes.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 with the other three galettes. When all four have been assembled, sprinkle sugar on the outer rim of pastry surrounding each galette.
8. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is puffed and bubbly. The galettes will only stay puffed for a brief few minutes after they emerge from the oven, so if you want your guests to see them at their puffiest, gather everyone a few minutes before the galettes are done. (And if you miss this window, they will still be beautiful and delicious, so not to worry either way!).
9. Garnish the galettes with additional basil if desired, and serve.
Notes:
This is the second recipe I created with basically these same ingredients. The first was this one, which was the product of my strong desire for a tasty breakfast, despite having some not-so-amazing peaches to work with.
Just in case the road to internet glory is not paved with toast, I decided to create this recipe to gussy the whole thing up a notch. I added a dash of lemon juice to keep the peaches from browning, and nestled the whole thing into flaky pie crust, rustically tucked up over the edges. And before baking, I slathered the pastry dough with mascarpone under those peaches.
The result is a beautiful-but-rustic tartlet, suitable for even the fanciest summer affairs.
You can make these with frozen peaches when they’re not in season. Choose wedges and fully defrost and drain them before mixing them with the sugar and other ingredients in Step 2. Cooking time may vary somewhat, so keep an eye on things.
When it comes to cinnamon, you have a couple of choices. Cassia cinnamon is the kind we grew up with here in the United States, but Ceylon cinnamon is the true, original cinnamon. I like Ceylon cinnamon for recipes like this, because it takes things in a less predictable direction and adds a little mystery to the whole thing. But you do you.