Apricot and Thyme Galettes

The apricot season is short. When it’s in season, apricot is one of my favorite fruits for baking. However, the canned or preserved version can be a great option if that means I can bake the apricot and thyme galettes year-round. This is a magnificent and versatile recipe from Ottolenghi Sweet. It invites you to experiment and, simply, to play around. Substitute peach for apricot, rosemary for thyme, or store-bought puff pastry for the polenta pastry (published in the book).  This recipe will work with any stone fruits. The combinations and permutations are limitless.

If you’re pressed for time, there are shortcuts to make these company-worthy fruit galettes and to get quickly to the finish line. Roll out the puff pastry and cut it to individual serving size. This can be done ahead of time. Do as many or as few as you’d like. Sprinkle the almond, sugar, lemon zest and chopped thyme mixture on each tart, while leaving an empty border around the edges. Arrange the apricot halves on top. Fold and crimp four sides of the tart to create an edge all around. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle the tarts with thyme leaves and sugar. They are now ready for the oven.

Forty minutes later, you have a lovely golden apricot galettes that are likely to receive accolades and smiles. Best of all, there is not much that can go wrong, as long as the fruits are of good quality. And you can pull it all together almost at the last minutes with relative ease. The pastry can be prepared up to a week in advance. I love making galettes for their free-form and carefree attitude.

Best way to use apricots from the farmers market and thyme from the garden: make galettes.

Print Recipe

Apricot and Thyme Galettes

Ingredients

• 375g all-butter puff pastry, or rolled out into a rectangle
• 80g ground almonds
• 70g granulated sugar, plus 15g extra for sprinkling on the pastry
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp finely chopped thyme (or rosemary), plus 2 sprigs extra to garnish
• 2 cans apricot halves, drained, or 9-12 apricots (depending on size)
• 1 egg, whisked, to glaze
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• 50g smooth apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1

Heat the oven to 400°F.

2

Roll the pastry out to a 9 x 11 inch rectangle (slightly larger than a letter-size print paper). Cut it into six smaller rectangles, each about 3 x 5.5 inch. Place on the lined baking sheet and in the fridge to chill, about 30 minutes.

3

In a small bowl, combine the almonds, sugar, lemon zest and chopped thyme (or rosemary), then sprinkle this mix over the tarts, leaving a 1/3 inch empty border all the way around the edges.

4

Arrange the apricots cut side up on top of the almond mix, so each pastry rectangle is covered by one row of about 4-5 apricot halves, all overlapping and sitting together snugly. Lay a sprig of thyme (or rosemary) on top of each tart, then brush the empty pastry border with egg wash.

5

Pull in the four sides of the tarts a little, crimping them to create an edge, then brush all around with more egg wash. Mix the melted butter with the almond extract, and brush generously over the apricots and thyme (or rosemary). Sprinkle the remaining 15g sugar over the galettes, then put in the fridge for 20 minutes.

6

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown, then leave to cool.

7

In the microwave oven, melt apricot jam with a tablespoon of water in a bowl, until combined and just starting to bubble. Brush this all over the galettes and serve.