This galette is a great example of how I’ve changed.
You know what made me realize it? I was bringing a leftover slice of galette to my desk to eat for lunch the other day and my co-worker asked what I was eating. Even as I said it, I realized how very stuff-white-people-like it sounded.
“It’s a galette,” I said and then stumbled on when he looked at me weirdly, “kind of like a savoury tart. Or pie. With roasted vegetables. It’s good!”
Well put, Angharad. The thing is, the galette is good. The dough could have been a little thinner and less, erm doughy, but the overall effect was seriously yum.
But how ridiculous is the word “galette”? Pretty silly, I think.
What the galette made me realize was how much I’ve changed in terms of my attitude to food, what interests me and what I like to cook. I’ve always enjoyed eating food immensely but a few years back you wouldn’t have found me dead on a weekend afternoon rustling up a chocolate stout bundt cake and a galette like I was the day I made this.
That was not even remotely part of who I was. And yet now it is a huge part of who I am. Previously you might have found me in bed feeling a little worse for wear on a Saturday morning, after a raucous night out, perhaps only surfacing to make a bacon sandwich.
I suppose that’s what our twenties are about. Finding out what it is we love to do when there’s noone else around. For me, apparently that is making galettes.
This galette has a lot to answer for, frankly, because it got me doing a lot more thinking than any tart-like creation should. It made me think about how I may have grown up in England, but that I am becoming a grown up, as it were, in the States. That may sound really trite and gross to some of you and sorry if it does, but I mean it in the sense that Minneapolis has brought me a whole lot of love for stuff I never used to be interested in – riding my bike around at the weekend (summers only, please), trotting down to the farmers’ market, baking things, being interested in the politics of food, and so much more.
It’s not that I don’t think I would have developed these interests if I still lived in England, in fact London is ripe for that kind of lifestyle. It just so happens that I found them in Minneapolis and so Minneapolis inevitably represents a lot for me, in terms of who I am and the person I’m becoming.
As for the galette, I think you’ll really like it. Do make sure you roll out the dough to the suggested 14 inches and be sure that it’s only about a 1/4 inch thick. The dough is going to puff up as it bakes and you don’t want it to get overwhelming.
With the vegetables, you can really adapt as you please. Bell peppers would be grand, so would eggplant or zucchini – just make sure you cut them to a uniform size (about 3/4 inch pieces) so that they roast evenly. In terms of cheese, you could use feta or Jarlsberg too. Adapt and play!
Roasted Vegetable Galette with Olives
from The New York Times
Crust:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups diced peeled carrots (3 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups diced peeled parsnips (3 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups diced peeled butternut squash (1/2 medium)
- 1 cup diced peeled beet (1 medium)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 head garlic
- 1 cup crumbled creamy goat cheese (4 ounces), divided
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water for glazing
Directions
1. To prepare crust: Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse several times. Mix water and oil; sprinkle over the dry ingredients and pulse just until blended. Add olives and pulse to mix. (Alternatively, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water-oil mixture, stirring until well blended. Stir in olives.)
2. Press the dough into a disk; if it seems dry, add a little more water. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. The unbaked crust will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
4.To prepare filling: Combine carrots, parsnips, squash, beet, 1 tablespoon oil, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread the vegetables on the prepared baking sheet. Cut the tip off the head of garlic. Set on a square of foil, sprinkle with a tablespoon of water and pinch the edges of the foil together. Place the packet on the baking sheet with the vegetables. Roast, stirring the vegetables every 10 minutes, until they are tender and beginning to brown and the garlic is soft, about 35 minutes. (The garlic may take a little longer.)
5. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl. Unwrap the garlic and let cool slightly. Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl; add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and mash with a fork. Add the mashed garlic to the roasted vegetables and toss to mix. Add 3/4 cup goat cheese and toss to coat.
6. To assemble galette: Roll the dough into a rough 14-inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the dough on it. Arrange the roasted vegetables on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold the border up and over the filling to form a rim, pleating as you go. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup goat cheese over the vegetables. Stir egg and water briskly; brush lightly over the crust.
7. Bake the galette at 400F until the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Yield: Makes 8 servings.
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