Eat: Berry Galette

The birthday of a grown-up can often be...underwhelming. The odds are that you're working that day, which most likely means that the majority of it will be hum drum. You go about your business, maybe treat yourself to a candy bar from the vending machine, and hope have a nice dinner that night. In an effort to combat this regular-day-syndrome, Matt and I have a lovely tradition of Birthday Breakfast. It is a relatively low key affair: the birthday boy or girl gets a special breakfast complete with candles and a solo serenade of "Happy Birthday". It makes for a surprisingly awesome morning and puts both of us in a great mood for the day.

This year, to mark Matthew's birthday I made a beautiful galette with strawberries and blueberries along with a side of greek yogurt. Galette is a generic French term for flat, round, and flaky pastries. As with many of my breakfast dishes, you can switch this up with whatever mix of fruit you prefer. On the 4th of July I made it with blueberries and raspberries. This dish is a quick snap to make, especially if you use a pre-made pie crust. It presents and tastes like a pie but is much healthier  because it doesn't have a syrup loaded with refined sugar. The fruit naturally creates a syrup when mixed with cornstarch. We were both crazy about this dish and I immediately added it to my regular-rotation-recipe stash.

Berry Galette

1 pie crust dough, homemade or store-bought (thaw ahead of time)
2-3 cups of mixed berries
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cornstarch
Egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 °F.

Roll out the pie crust flat onto a greased (or parchment paper-lined) baking sheet. In a large bowl, mix together the fruit, cinnamon, and cornstarch.

Spoon the mixture onto the center of the pie crust leaving about a 2-inch border of dough. Gently fold the edges of the dough over the filling.

Brush the top edges of the dough with a beaten egg. If desired, sprinkle with a bit cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool on the pan for a couple minutes before cutting.

If serving for breakfast, include a few scoops of yogurt on the side. For dessert, this pairs nicely with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.