Pear & Fontina Galette

Fall is my favorite season. I love the cooler temperatures, the burst of new color, and most of all, rustic and hearty fall meals. Pears are a plentiful this time of year, and this is a great light dessert that is just as at home on the grill as it is the oven.

This recipe is one of those that makes it look like you spent a ton of time, yet it's pretty much brain-dead easy. I tried the recipe both on the grill and baked. While the grilled version has a more outdoorsy flavor (of course), the oven version was just as good. After all, indirect grilling is basically baking over coals outdoors.

I used frozen pie crust to make the preparation simple with very little clean-up. You can certainly use homemade dough, but it's really overkill for this recipe.

Ingredients
2 Bosc or Bartlett pears, ripe (I used Bosc)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust, thawed
3 oz Fontina cheese, sliced to about 1/4"
2 Tbsp Brown sugar
1 Tbsp All-purpose flour (you could use whole wheat)
1/2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup Apricot preserves
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp Water, divided
1 Egg
1 tsp Sugar

Method
Start your grill and prepare for indirect cooking at 375º, or preheat your oven to 375º.

Combine the brown sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl and mix well with a fork.

Peel the pears (optional, but I did) and cut them lengthwise into quarters. Remove the core from each quarter and slice them to about 1/4" into a medium mixing bowl.

Add the sugar, flour, and spice mixture to the pears, fold gently to coat the pears evenly, and set aside.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Arrange the cheese slices evenly in the flat bottom of the pie crust.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Pour the pear mixture into a pile in the flat bottom of the crust. You want to leave the sides uncovered.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Fold the very top edge of the crust up and flatten it to a consistent thickness. You want to create smooth sides.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Gently fold the sides over in sixths and pinch the extra dough together to form an appealing edge.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Whisk the egg and one teaspoon of water well in a small mixing bowl. Brush the edges with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Cook indirect (or bake on the center rack) for 40 minutes, or until the crust is just golden brown.

While the galette is cooking, whisk the apricot preserves and 2 tablespoons of water in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

Drizzle the exposed pears with about three tablespoons of the thinned preserves and cook another 10 minutes.

Remove from the grill/oven and let cool 20-30 minutes.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Slice and serve with a drizzle of the remaining preserve mixture.

Pear & Fontina Galette

Enjoy!

(Makes 6 servings)

Note: This pairs (no pun intended) very well with a nice dessert wine. Or, skip the wine and serve it warm with some vanilla bean ice cream.

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9 Comments:
Anonymous Patty H. said...
Wow, this looks delicious! I'm amazed - - I never thought about cooking (?baking) a pie using the grill; petty cool.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
This sounds absolutely beautiful! I absolutely looooove pears, though my partner can't stand them, and am always looking out for dishes to make that I know he won't steal! This looks and sounds like a real winner and the photos are fabulous!
this looks so delicious... will try it out

love your pictures as well... they are beautiful
Anonymous Robyn said...
You had me at Pear!! :)Paired with cheese, and then done on the grill. you are seriously speaking my language here!!
Anonymous Sheila @E2gather said...
Oh my goodness gracious mee OH my. so simple so delicious!
Blogger Chris said...
Great fall dessert, John.

Now that summer has cooled off, Alexis is baking more often on her Egg.
Blogger Unknown said...
Thanks, Chris. This would definitely be at home on said BGE. ;-)
Anonymous Kenny C said...
This looks very good. I always like your recipes. My question is where do you get forks like that? Those are awesome.
Blogger Unknown said...
Kenny - Thanks. I got them at Cost Plus World Market.

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