Rustic Apple Galette

I am no expert on pie crust, so I won't pretend to be.  I usually pull out my trusty old Betty Crocker for that; every once in a while I'll use a refrigerator pie crust from a grocery store.

There's something about making a pie that is a bit intimidating to me.  I don't know what exactly.  Maybe it's the pressure to get the crust right.  Or all the time it takes to peel enough apples or pit enough cherries for a pie. Speaking of cherry pie, once I made a cherry pie with frozen cherries that I neglected to thaw. Well, of course, they thawed in the oven inside of the pie.  All the liquid they released ruined the bottom crust leaving me with a beautiful lattice-topped mushy disaster.  Maybe that's it.  Maybe that's why I haven't made pie in years.

Or come to think of it: the last time I made a pie my grandma was at my house. I'd recently unearthed the KitchenAid mixer she'd given me as a wedding gift and I'd been looking through the enclosed cookbook, where I found instructions for making pie crust.  So, to show her that I was using and appreciating her gift, I followed the instructions and started measuring ingredients into the bowl of my mixer.  When she saw this, she scoffed and rolled her eyes and told me I was failing at pie dough.  As she pulled the half-mixed dough out of the mixing bowl and onto a wooden board she said, "Not to worry, all it takes is practice."  Then she determined that I haven't made enough dough and asked for shortening. Shortening?  I mean I know that people still use the stuff, but I'm more of a butter or oil cook.  Luckily, I did have some shortening, because I do use shortening in my Granny's favorite chocolate chip cookies, but...

oOo

But sometimes I get a hankering for something apple-pie-like.  And this is what I turn to:

On a non-insulated cookie sheet:  a single recipe of pie crust, rolled out a little more thinly than one would for a traditional pie, with one or two apples (cored but not peeled), sliced thinly and tossed with cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg, fanned out in the center of the crust.  Fold the edges of the crust up onto the apples leaving most of the apples exposed.  (If you want to get fancy, brush the crust with egg wash.)  Bake at 400 until the crust is golden brown and delicious, about 20 minutes.

You could certainly serve this as dessert with a scoop of ice cream, but I prefer it just slightly warmed as a coffee break snack.