It is September already, but is anyone really keeping track? 2020 seems like an interminable movie where you have lost the sense of time and space. One thing that’s keeping us (me) sane is cooking, especially pandemic baking! Apart from the usual cakes and cookies, I have experimented with pizzas, focaccia, flatbreads, etc. One of my favourite things to bake these days is a Galette – a French pie/tart wrapped over a sweet or savoury filling. The word galette comes from the Norman word for flat cake and it is essentially a single-crust, free-form pie. This is the galette recipe that worked for me – it’s based on several online recipes with slight modifications.
Galettes come together easily, have a rustic-chic vibe, and look pretty impressive. Case in point, the photo above!
The pastry crust is usually made with refined or all-purpose (AP) flour but this galette recipe uses whole wheat flour. I have tried it with AP flour as well and it works just fine. The most typical galette is made with seasonal fruits like apples and pears, summer stone fruits like plums, peaches, and nectarines, or berries like strawberries and blueberries. Recipes for apple and plum galette fillings follow. You can also make savoury galettes and there’s a moreish caramelised onions and zucchini galette recipe for you below.
Pastry Base
First up, here’s how to make the pastry base. You can make this in advance; I usually make it the night before and refrigerate it.
Ingredients
- 120 gm whole wheat flour
- 50 gm butter, cold & cubed
- ½ tsp salt (skip if using salted butter)
- Up to ¼ cup (60 ml) ice-cold water
Procedure
- Place flour and butter (and salt if using) in a large bowl.
- Use the dough hook attachment on a hand blender to knead until pea-sized pieces form (or pulse a few times in a food processor)
- Add 1 tbsp of cold water at a time and continue kneading until a ball is formed
- Shape into a disc and refrigerate for at least 45 min (or overnight)
- Remove from refrigerator, roll out the pastry base on parchment paper and put it back in the refrigerator while you prepare the fillings (see recipes below)
- Just before assembling the galette, remove the base from the refrigerator and transfer to a baking sheet or steel plate (retain the parchment paper under the base)
- Place the toppings leaving about an inch of space all around the edge
- Fold the border up over the filling and brush the crust with egg wash
- Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes until the edges are nicely golden-brown
- Transfer the galette to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing
- Serve sweet galettes with a scoop of ice cream if you like
How to make the fillings for a galette
Apple Galette
- Core and thinly slice 1 large apple. Toss the slices with the following:
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- A pinch of salt
- Let it sit f0r 15 minutes and drain off the sugary liquid
- Arrange apple slices on the galette, starting from the centre and moving towards the edges in tight circles.
- Follow galette assembly instructions above
Plum Galette
- Pit and slice 400 gm plums. Toss the slices with the following:
- 50 gm brown sugar (more if your plums are very tart)
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- A pinch of salt
- Lemon zest (optional)
- Let it sit f0r 15 minutes and drain off the sugary liquid
- Arrange plum slices on the galette, starting from the centre and moving towards the edges in tight circles.
- Follow galette assembly instructions above
Caramelised Onions and Zucchini Galette
- Spread pizza/pasta tomato sauce on the pastry base, leaving about an inch of space around the edge
- Pile on thinly sliced caramelised onions and then top with thin zucchini slices
- Follow galette assembly instructions above
- I generally don’t add any cheese, but if you want to, I recommend you sprinkle it towards the last 5-10 minutes of baking
So give these galette recipes a try and let me know how they turn out!
Stay safe, stay at home, and wear a mask if you do have to step out.
