The crunchy, sweet pastry is a perfect foil for the sweet-tart flavor of fresh apricots, whose fleeting mid-summer harvest always leaves us wanting more. We used beautiful, blush-red apricots from Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood while testing this recipe. Some apricots are still available but not for long, so if you miss the window, nectarines are a wonderful substitute. Packaged almond meal is available at Trader Joe's or through Bob's Red Mill (and some markets that carry BRM products), however, it is easy to make your own by grinding 1/2 cup of unsalted, whole almonds in a food processor. The almonds should ground into very fine pieces, slightly larger than corn meal. (This process is quite loud at the beginning, so give other household members due warning.) We also used local apricot jam, from We Love Jam in the Santa Clara Valley.
Crust:
1 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2–inch pieces
6 Tbsp ice water
Filling:
14-16 apricots (depending on size)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar, divided
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp apricot jam
1. Combine the flour, 1 tbsp sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse in quick bursts, until the biggest pieces are the size of peas.
2. Dribble 6 tablespoons of ice water into the flour mixture, pulsing between additions, until the dough just holds together. (this is the amount of water that that worked for us, but do add one tablespoon at a time to make sure that you end up with a dough that is neither too dry nor to wet.) Form a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out (the dough will keep in the freezer for a few weeks).
3. When you are ready to roll out the dough, take the disk from the refrigerator. Let it soften slightly so that it will roll out fairly easily but is still cold. Unwrap the dough and press the edges of the disk so that there are no cracks. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the disk into a 12 to14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour before using.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice apricots in halves and remove the pits. Arrange, cut side up, on tart dough leaving a 2 inch border. Sprinkle 1/4 sugar evenly over apricots. Fold edges of dough over fruit overlapping dough over itself, making sure that there are no tears or gaps that might allow juices to escape during cooking. Brush melted butter on the crust with a pastry brush and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.
5. Place on lower section of oven on a piece of parchment paper set on a pizza stone or baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the filling should be bubbling. Remove galette from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. To add some extra glamour to the galette, heat apricot jam in a small sauce pan. Brush the melted jam on the apricot filling. Serve warm or at room temperature.
