Recipe File: Three Galettes

I love a galette. They’re easy, they’re beautiful, and the only rule I can think of is that you can’t fill them with a runny custardy filling. But that still leaves a ton of options for filling a buttery, flaky pastry, whether homemade or store bought (thank you again Trader Joe’s). 

For this column I made three galettes: potato, leek and gruyere, and apple. Other favorites are pear, peach, plum, mixed berries, rhubarb, eggplant and tomato, summer squashes, winter squashes, cauliflower, etc. Flow with the seasons and you can’t go wrong.

Roll out your dough. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a perfect circle. I like to roll right onto a sheet of parchment paper so I can easily slide the filled galette onto a baking tray and then onto a rack to cool. 

Spread a filling over the pastry, leaving about 2” edge for folding over. 

For a savory galette, I’ve been using 1 cup ricotta mixed with herbs and cheese. Then I layer generously with a vegetable and (probably) more cheese. 

For a sweet galette, I make a batch of frangipane and layer with fruit and (probably) a sprinkle of Demerara sugar.   

Potato, Sweet Potato, Sage Galette

(see note below)

1 batch of pastry dough

1 small sweet potato, sliced very thin

1 large Yukon gold potato, sliced very thin

1 cup ricotta

1 cup grated parmesan

Handful of minced parsley and sage

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix together the ricotta, half the parmesan, and the herbs.  Season to taste with S&P.

Roll out your cool dough to about a 14” circleish shape. 

Spread the ricotta evenly on the dough to within about 2” from the edge. Starting in the center, layer the potato slices, alternating Yukon and sweet, so they overlap and fan out in a circle to cover all the ricotta. Messy is fine; they look gorgeous once they’re cooked.

Top with remaining parmesan, S&P, a few sage leaves, and a generous drizzle of olive oil.

Fold the edge of pastry over the filling, leaving most of center exposed. Brush pastry with beaten egg or cream. This gives a lovely sheen to the pastry.

As you can see in the photos, I forgot to do this step!

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven till golden and bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool to just warm or room temp before serving.

Leek and Gruyere Galette

1 batch of pastry dough

3 large leeks, trimmed and washed

1 cup ricotta

1 cup grated parmesan

1 cup coarsely grated gruyere

Handful of minced parsley and tarragon

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut leeks in half lengthwise then slice into ¼ inch half moons. Sauté in a little olive oil till slightly softened but not totally cooked down. They will cook more in the oven and you don’t want them to shrink to nothing.

Season with S&P and put aside to cool while you prepare the ricotta and roll out the dough. Spread the ricotta over pastry as with potato galette.

Spread cooled leeks (it’s fine if they are still warm, just not hot). 

Top with gruyere, S&P. Fold up edges of pastry and brush with beaten egg or cream.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven till golden and bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool to just warm or room temp before serving.

Apple Frangipane Galette

2 large or 3 medium apples like Granny Smith, Mutsu, Honeycrisp

½ cup almond flour or your own ground almonds

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla or brandy

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons Demerara sugar (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Wash and thinly slice the apples in 1/8” slices. I like the peel on but you can peel if you prefer.  Put aside.

In a food processor, pulse together the almond flour, sugar, salt, softened butter, egg, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. You can beat the ingredients by hand as well. Put aside.

Roll out your dough as described in potato galette. 

Spread the frangipane over the dough to within 2” of the edge. Layer the apple slices over the frangipane in 2 layers. Fold up edges of dough and brush with beaten egg or cream. Brush the exposed apple slices with the melted butter and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven till golden and bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool to just warm or room temp before serving.

Note: potatoes need to be very thinly sliced in order to cook through. I rely on my handy Japanese mandoline. 

Full disclosure: I always have pastry dough in the freezer, usually homemade and TJs.. This is my favorite pastry recipe and it yields enough for 2 galettes or pies.