Apple and apricot Galette

Rustic galette shows off the flavours of delicious apples.

Ingredients
For galette dough
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
40 g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Ice water as needed



For filling
2 medium size apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
5-6 dry apricots
1 teaspoon grated cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated cardamom
Sugar if needed
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 teaspoon of sugar




Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.
Cut in the butter.
Sprinkle in the ice water.
Toss it, until you can bring the dough together in a ball.
Press it into a dick and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
To form a galette, roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into an irregular circle, about ½ cm thick.
Transfer it into the baking sheet.



Preheat oven to 200 C. In a bowl, toss apples with cinnamon and cardamom. Mound apples and dryed apricots in the centre of the dough. Fold the edges.

Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until the crust is golden brown and the apples tender, about 45 minutes.

Pear and frangipane tart

This beautiful and delicious tart is easy and quick to make.




Ingredients (Serves4-6)
300 g ready-made puff pastry
2 large or 3 medium ripe pears

for sugar syrup
50 g caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole star anise
2 tbsp lemon juice

for frangipane
75 g butter, at room temperature
75 g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
75 g almond meal
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp amaretto


Transfer pastry to a baking tray and lightly score a 1-2 cm edge around it. Beat yolk with 2 tsp water and brush rim to glaze. Place pastry in fridge while you prepare filling.


Place all of sugar syrup ingredients in a small saucepan with 50 ml water and stir on low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and simmer for 10 mins, until thickened slightly. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, beat together butter and sugar for frangipane. Slowly add egg, mixing until fully incorporated. Add almond meal and flour and fold through. Mix in amaretto. Set aside for 5 mins.



Peel pears and cut each in half lengthways. Remove cores with a small spoon or melon baller and discard. Cut pears lengthways into thin slices, place in a large bowl and pour over cooled sugar syrup. Set aside to macerate for a few mins. Preheat oven to 190 C. (It is best not to use fan oven)
Spread a layer of frangipane evenly over pastry, then arrange pears on top in a concentric circle.
Bake 30-35 mins, until pears are tender and filling is set.



Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly. If you like, sift over a little extra icing sugar.





Bon appetite!

Roasted capsicums with couscous and chilli

Ingredients
Serves 4
200 g couscous
4 large capsicums
oil , for brushing
200g beef mince
20g butter
20g thyme
chilli
lime wedges, to serve







Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
Melt the butter on the frying pan and cook mince until no longer pink. Season with salt, add chilli, couscous, thyme and water.
Set aside for 10 minutes.
Slice the tops off the peppers and cut out the seeds.
Lightly oil, Fill with couscous mixture then bake (with the lids) in a roasting tin for 25-30 mins.





Squeeze over lime wedges and serve.