I don’t know why I’ve never thought to make a galette for Thanksgiving, but it feels like a gross oversight on my part.Galettes are pie’s more chilled out cousins. They’re free-form, don’t require a pie plate or crimping, never need blind-baking, and you can put pretty much anything but custard inside. Easy easy easy, and positively perfect for a busy day like Thanksgiving. I’m mystified as to how I didn’t realize that until now–it’s so obvious!Today’s galette is filled to the brim with sliced tart apples and sweet ripe pears, and it’s seasoned with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. I like to think of those spices as somewhere between regular apple pie and chai. Yum!Assembling an Apple & Pear Galette is as simple as mounding your dough in the center of a piece of pie dough, folding the excess pastry toward the center, and dotting the whole thing with butter. Brush the exposed pie dough with egg wash, sprinkle it with coarse sugar for beauty and crunch, and then bake your galette for about 50 minutes at 375F. You’ll know it’s ready when the filling is bubbling, the pastry is well-browned and your kitchen smells outrageously good—like apples and pears and brown butter.Another thing galettes have over pies? They cool really quickly. I will pretty much never tell you to slice a pie before it has hit room temperature, which can take hours. Galettes though? They’re thin enough that they can be sliced at warm room temperature without any consequence. This beaut was sliced an hour after it came out of the oven, and the worst thing that happened was that it melted my ice cream slightly more quickly than it would have otherwise. And by worst thing, I mean a very good thing. Very good.

Apple & Pear Galette
makes 1 galette

2 large tart baking apples, peeled, 1/4-inch sliced
2 Bosc or Bartlett pears (about 7-8 ounces each), peeled, 1/4-inch sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 recipe All-Butter Pie Dough, or other good single crust recipe
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

For assembly:
1 large egg
1 teaspoon water
coarse sugar

For serving:
vanilla ice cream
whipped cream

Arrange oven racks in the upper and lower positions. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine apple and pear slices in a large mixing bowl. Add apple cider vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cornstarch, and salt. Stir together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon and let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Flour a surface and a rolling pin. Roll pie dough out until it is 1/8-inch thick. Trim edges so that you have a 12-inch circle. Transfer to prepared pan. Mound filling in the middle of the dough, leaving at least 2 inches of excess on all sides. Fold dough over the sides of the filling to contain it. Dot exposed filling with butter.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Brush mixture on exposed pie dough. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake galette on the upper rack for 25 minutes. Move to the lower rack. Bake for 20-25 more minutes, tenting with foil if anything begins to brown too quickly. Crust will firm up as the galette cools.

Let galette cool completely in the pan on a rack. Remove to a cutting board. Slice and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Galette will keep covered at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to four.