Where have you been all my life?...

Growing up, my mom would always get after me for not following recipes exactly. Even now I find I can almost never follow a recipe word-for-word, which is a very good thing in the case of this latest creation. Taking my inspiration from Emmie at Veg Bitch and using locally grown Victory plums and yellow nectarines, I made a plum and nectarine galette. I think that in my entire life I have eaten fresh plums twice, and they were the red kind usually found in grocery stores. Not much of a fan until now, I'm wondering where these lovelies have been all my life? The addition of toasted and finely ground pecans to the dough gave an already fabulous crust a slight crispiness and richness. This alone made my skeptical boyfriend want seconds before he was done his first slice.

Plum and Nectarine Galette

Crust

1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup plus 4 tbsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp cold water
1/3 cup toasted pecans, finely ground in a food processor

Filling

2 cups ripe plums, seeded and cut into slices
2 cups ripe nectarines, seeded and cut into slices
3 and 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to just a few degrees below 400F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and sugar and cut in the margarine with a fork or pastry cutter until it looks like a pea-sized coarse meal. Add in the water and mix with hands until the mixture forms a ball of dough. Do not over knead - just mix the dough until it is combined. Line a cookie sheet or pizza pan with tin foil or parchment paper and lightly greased with a bit of margarine. Pat the dough out into a circle and transfer it to the sheet, rolling it out into a large circle of about 1/5" thickness. Let the dough rest while you prepare your filling (don't refrigerate it - it will make the dough too brittle when you need to fold it over the filling).

Cut the plums and nectarines in half and deseed them. The easiest way to do this is with a knife follow the cleavage line of the fruit from the stem section and cut all around. Gently twist the halves apart. You may have to use the knife to carefully cut around the side with the pit to coax it out of the fruit. Combine the fruit in a mixing bowl with the cinnamon, sugar and flour and turn gently with a spoon to combine the ingredients.

Pile the fruit mixture in the centre of the dough. Gently gather the sides up and over the filling. You may or may not end up with a few cracks around the edges of the galette. Not to worry - simply pinch the dough together or patch it up with a pit of extra dough from the top of the galette. The edges will be rough and will not cover the entire top of the galette, and they're not supposed to. You may have some of the juice from the filling run out, but this is supposed to be a rustic sort of pie and a little juice will likely come out of little seams anyway.

Place the sheet with the galette in the oven for about 40 minutes, keeping an eye open to make sure it doesn't burn. When it is done, remove the galette from the oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.