Quince me this; what to do with quince? Quince is an under appreciated and not always easy fruit to find. They are fibrous and very firm when ripe & you could lose a finger when slicing if you’re not careful. The flesh does bake up quite tender and tasty. However, in my humble opinion, these pear look-alikes are best when baked into something delicious.
My sense of smell has never been stellar, but I have been told that quince fruit gives off a floral fragrance. How pretty to bake with is that? And, if you don’t have quince, pears or apples can be substituted.
Moving on to the quince, when peeling these oh so firm fruits I used a regular vegetable peeler. This is so much less dangerous than a knife as they are very firm. Carefully cut out the core, thinly slice, and place in a large bowl of water with 2 teaspoons of salt to keep from oxidizing.
Assembling Galette: To make assembly easier and less chaotic prep all components first. Caramelized onions, galette dough and of course, the quince.
This is my basic galette dough recipe with added parmesan cheese. Transforming this dough into gluten free is a snap using my Gluten Free Flour mix made with Bod’s Red Mill products.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Take that parchment off and roll out the dough to about 11 to 12 inches. Place the rolled out dough onto the baking sheet and layer on the caramelized onions.
Add the sliced/shaved pecorino romano cheese & seasoning.
Drain the sliced quince and shake off extra water. Arrange the quince on the cheese layer and drizzle with extra honey.
Fold over the edges of the galette, brush with egg wash, and bake for 30 – 35 minutes at 400 F.
The end product is a savory masterpiece with a hint of sweetness. It’s the perfect brunch/dinner fall/winter pie/galette.
Bake and be excellent to each other pie peeps! We need you bakers to keep the world revolving.
Quince Pecorino & Parmesan Galette
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Parmesan Galette Dough
- 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour (you may substitutegluten free flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Quince Pecorino Filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons brown or Dijon mustard
- 4 ounces Romano pecorino, shaved or grated fine
- 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
- 2 quince, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 2 extra tablespoons honey
Instructions
Galette Dough
- Stir all of the dry ingredients together, cut butter into dry ingredients with a fork until crumbly and pea-sized.
- Add sour cream and water, mix just until it forms a ball. If dough is a little dry, add the 2nd tablespoon of water. Cover with towel or plastic wrap until ready to assemble.
Filling & Assembly
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- In skillet over medium heat, sauté onions in olive oil for about 10-12 minutes.
- Remove onions from heat and add honey and mustard, set aside.
- Peel and slice the quince and place in bowl of water with a one to two teaspoons of salt to keep from oxidizing. (Drain & shake off extra water when ready to assemble.)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, roll out galette dough to roughly 11 to 12 inches in diameter.
- Layer on the onions in the center to within 1-1/2 inches of the edge.
- Layer the Romano cheese over the onions, and sprinkle on Herbs de Provence. Drizzle on the extra honey.
- Layer on the drained sliced quince. Fold up the edges of galette and brush edges with egg wash.
- Bake 30 – 35 minutes @ 400 F.
