Donna’s Day: Kids can help make a rustic pear galette

Pears star in this easy-to-make rustic galette that school-age kids will enjoy helping you prepare. The crust can be mixed quickly with young hands and muscle — or you can roll out a store-bought pie crust.

The final step is fanning out the pear slices and admiring the culinary “art” before you pop it in the oven.

Rustic Pear Galette

Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted, cold butter cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 egg

1 teaspoon milk

2 teaspoons milk for brushing on crust

For the filling:

3 tablespoons fig or apricot fruit spread

2 large Anjou pears

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Procedure

For the dough, place flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and let your child stir it together with clean fingers. Scatter butter chunks into flour mixture, and toss and rub between fingertips until mixture resembles small peas. Or, use a pastry blender.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and 1 teaspoon of milk. Add half of the egg-and-milk mixture to the dough. Mix well. Add remaining portion and mix until the dough comes together. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough into a 10-inch circle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the center portion with the fruit spread and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the pears.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Halve and core the pears, then slice lengthwise. Arrange them in a fan shape on the chilled dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Drizzle the melted butter over the pears. Sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg.

Fold the border edge up and over toward the pears in slightly overlapping pleats to form the edges of the galette. Brush dough rim with milk and bake 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Cool slightly, slide onto a serving plate and enjoy with vanilla ice cream.