Apricot Galette

A galette in my world is a very simple tart: a base of flaky pastry, with raw fruit arranged on top, then baked. Most chefs and good cooks will have a culinary mentor, someone who has passed on their knowledge or inspired you to expand yours. I met Claude, a young French chef, in the seventies and he refuelled the interest I had in the connections of food to the outdoors and the garden. He was and still is a master at quickly gathering a few simple ingredients and cooking a treat. The galette is one that all of Claude’s friends would have enjoyed in many guises many times.
Serves 5–6

Ingredients

• 1 sheet prepared flaky pastry, thawed
• 10 apricots, halved and stoned
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons river honey
• 20g butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Place the sheet of pastry on a greased oven tray, trim off the corners and roll out like a pizza, then crimp the edges a little so that the outer rim of the pastry is slightly raised.

Place the apricot halves in slightly overlapping layers, starting from the edges, until they are all used. Bake for 15 minutes. While the galette is cooking, combine the honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat until all is dissolved. When the galette has been in the oven for 15 minutes, pull out the tray and brush over the honey glaze.

Return to the oven and cook until the fruit takes on a nice glaze and the pastry is crisp, 30–40 minutes. Brush over any remaining honey glaze you may have left.

Serve generous warm slices with softly whipped cream.

It works well served cold as a picnic dish.