It’s September, y’all!! We have a couple of pear trees now, both at the front of our house. I spend a few minutes every day picking them up off the sidewalk and out of the front yard. Squirrels eat half and then drop the rest but honestly, I kind of like picking them up….it just feels nice to be out in the cool air picking u[ fruit out of my front yard. Unfortunately, the pears are rather hard – so I guess they are cooking pears? No idea, but you definitely don’t just go pick one and bite into it. I decided to poach the pears to see how they turned out and they were delicious!! Of course, then I had to make a this simple rustic pear galette. I had never made one before and pie crust seemed intimidating to me, but what did I have to lose? Simple rustic pear galette coming right up.

I hope y’all will enjoy seeing recipes now and then here on the blog. I’ve always wanted to incorporate them because Joel and I love to cook and we cook A LOT. At least 5-6 dinner meals per week plus he cooks breakfast for me every. single. morning. Isn’t that amazing? He’s my favorite. Anyway, this simple rustic pear galette….is well, simple! And because it’s “rustic” there is no perfection involved, thank goodness. Sounds super fancy but I promise, it’s the easiest! I made my own pie crust but a store bought crust would work just fine. Just allow it to thaw then shape it the same way I did here. Surely this rustic pear galette is going to grace your fall table? It’s so pretty and oh my goodness, it’s delicious! Fall on a plate for sure.

Simple Rustic Pear Galette

If your pears are already ripe, no need to poach – just peel and toss them in the spices + sugar + 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour. The flour will help absorb the pears juices as it cooks so that your pie crust doesn’t get soggy, no one wants soggy pie crust. This recipe isn’t fussy and you really can’t go wrong! Trust me, I’m not an excellent baker and this turned out lovely.

How to Make Poached Pears

Poached Pears

Ingredients

4-6 Pears peeled with stem left on bc it adds to the "rustic" feel of the dessert in my opinion
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1-2 cups water

Instructions

Add all ingredients, except pears to a saucepan, mix well with heat on high. Add pears and bring to a boil then turn to low and simmer for however long it takes to get your pears fairly soft. In my case, it took about an hour and I left them somewhat firm because I would also be baking mine into a galette. Turn poaching mixture off and and allow the pears to cool in the liquid. Remove the pears and marvel at just how freaking pretty they are! I mean really, aren't they gorgeous?!
At this point I also added a little more brown sugar to the poaching mixture and let it simmer on low and turn into a nice thick sauce that I drizzled over the top of my galette when I pulled it out of the oven. Waste not, want not, right?
Slice each one of your pears down the center, then slice them being careful not to cut all the way through so they will spread out nicely. Or just slice them however you want, I did this for pretty's sake, honestly. I was having way too much fun making this dish beautiful and I had time on my hands, okay? All my kids are in school and Joel was at work. It was a drizzly cloudy day and I had good music playing, what can I say....set sliced-however-you-want-pears to the side.

Easiest Ever Pie Crust

I know I said you could use a store-bought crust and YOU CAN but if you don’t have one on hand and you just have to make this RIGHT NOW, I understand. And you likely have these 5 common pantry ingredients on hand already. Pie crust is not difficult, you can do this!

Easiest Ever Pie Crust

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp white sugar
1 stick of COLD unsalted butter
1 egg

Instructions

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and stir. Cut your stick of butter into pats right on top of the flour mixture then take off your rings because it's about to get a little messy. Stick your hands right in there and start squeezing those pieces of butter into the flour until it starts to resemble pea-sized, coarse crumbs. Then break your egg into the mixture, still using your hands to mix it all together. It will come together into a nice ball of dough. If it's too dry add a tsp of water and continue to mix. If it's too wet add a little flour until you get it to the right consistency. It should stop sticking to your fingers when it's right. Super scientific. Wrap it up in cling wrap and let it chill out in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
Remove from fridge and lay down a piece of parchment paper and lightly flour the surface, then roll out your pie crust into a rough circle. Or remember you don't have parchment paper and use cling wrap....then remember your rolling pin somehow got lost in the move and improvise by using a can of black beans and your own two precious hands to roll the dough out. Remember, no perfection here.

Assembling the Simple Rustic Pear Galette

Once the dough is rolled out, add your pears to the center, leaving and inch or so along the edges, then roll the edges of the crust an inch or so over the top of the pears all the way around, overlapping as you go. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon + sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, watching for the crust to turn golden brown. Remove and allow to cool. I topped mine with the poaching sauce I thickened to a caramel consistency but you could also serve with whipped cream or even vanilla ice cream!

Ready for a ridiculous amount of photos of this Simple Rustic Pear Galette?