A Warm Fall Dessert - Spiced Asian Pear Squash Galette
Ingredients
- 1 egg beaten (egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Chinese Five-Spice Ice Cream
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 whole egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/2 vanilla bean pod, split and seeds scraped
- 1 pinch salt
Zinfandel Poached Asian Pears
- 3 firm Asian pears, peeled
- 1/2 bottle Zinfandel wine
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 vanilla bean, split
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup sugar
Galette Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup ice water
Galette Filling
- 1 cup cooked pureed Kabocha squash
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To Prepare the Chinese Five-Spice Ice Cream: In a large bowl add the sugar and egg yolks, whisk to combine and set aside. Put the cream, milk, five-spice, vanilla bean, vanilla seeds and salt into a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil and immediately remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the hot liquid, a small amount at a time, into the eggs and sugar. Next, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon; at least 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a thin-walled bowl. Place the bowl into an ice bath and stir until it is completely cool. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours, until cold. Pour filling into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Remove ice cream from the machine and transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, about 8 hours. (We do this overnight.) To Prepare the Zinfandel Poached Asian Pears: In a large saucepan, bring wine, water and vanilla bean to a simmer. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and sugar. When sugar has dissolved add pears to liquid and simmer for about 20 minutes, until tender. When pears are cool enough to work with, core the pears with a melon baller and slice into 1/4-inch slices. To Prepare the Galette Dough: Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add half the butter and pulse to combine. Add second half of the butter and pulse until it looks like coarse meal with pea-sized clumps. Add ice water a little at a time, pulsing until just incorporated and dough holds together. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour. To Prepare the Galette Filling: Using a mixer on medium speed, mix together squash and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Add eggs, milk, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and salt and mix an additional 2 minutes. Putting It All Together: Preheat oven to 375°. Roll out the chilled dough into a circle (it doesn't have to be perfect) about . inch thick and set it on a baking sheet. Spread approximately . cup of the squash mixture over dough, leaving a 1-inch ring. Arrange sliced pears on top of squash. Fold the edges of the galette dough up over the pear slices. Brush edges with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm with Five-Spice Ice Cream.
