Last year at this time, I was fretting over the crusts for my Thanksgiving pies. Would they be as flaky as they were tasty? Would they live up to the high standards of my soon-to-be mother in law’s beautifully set table? And, the ever-popular, who the heck has time for all this nonsense anyway?

During that time, when my fascination with making pie evolved into a love for doing it, I also started to appreciate why so many people would rather just not even bother.

However, being a pie-lover, I firmly believe that on Thanksgiving, everyone is entitled to the delight that is steaming fruit (or squash custard, or peacans with caramel, or, or…) encased in flaky, melt in your mouth pastry. And given that pie is just one sideshow in a meal akin to a three-ring circus, it might come as something of a relief to cooks that there is a pie alternative that delivers all of the satisfaction and beauty, without the fret.

The gallette, a rustic version of classic double-crust fruit pie, takes the pressure off of the cook to produce a curst that is ohh and ahh worthy by placing the emphasis on the fruit instead.

It still has all the tender, flaky crust that you would expect from a pie, and I think that it’s rustic look is just as lovely. The biggest difference, and this is key for fretting cooks, is that there is no careful manuvering involved in the placement of a top crust, and if a big hole happens to appear in the middle of the dough, it ain’t no thing.

You simply remain calm and patch that hole with a bit of extra dough, and later, sit down with your guests and enjoy all of the pie payoff, without any of the Thanksgiving fret.