Galette- \gə-ˈlet\ - A general term used in French to designate various types of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes.
Or as I like to call them- "rustic pies mmmm...."
Galettes & I became acquainted via the internet shortly before Christmas and I must tell you that I was shocked that it's taken us nearly 40 years to meet. We're pretty much perfect for each other!
Freeformed... rustic... can be sweet or savory... oh me oh my.
Christmas brunch seemed a worthy time to create our first galette. I managed to get a photo or two of my new favorite dish, but they were rushed and quite unimpressive. So today, I finally got around to making another, for umm... yes... for the purpose of photographing it. Never mind the fact that I ate a slice, before taking a picture of the finished pie...
To give credit where credit is due, I found the original recipe here. *It's a hysterical read, btw.
I pretty much followed that recipe to a T for Christmas (though I added sea salt to the top of the crust), but today I tried my hand at a home made crust.
Oye. That was a bit of work! Pre refrigeration- no problem. Post refrigeration (I left mine in overnight)- not so easy. The dough was hard as a rock, so I had to let it sit out for well over an hour in order for it to soften, then the parchment paper kept sliding all over the counter as I tried to roll it. I ended up pinching it between my tummy and the counter, to hold it still. *Don't you wish there were photos of that? hah! *The original crust recipe can be found here.
And now, with much anticipation, I give to thee, my Fellow Foodies...
The Savory Pear, Prosciutto & Blue Cheese Galette!
Crust: {make ahead of time}
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water
Blend flour and salt in processor.
Add butter and blend,
using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add 2
tablespoons ice water and blend just until dough begins to clump
together, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry.
Gather
dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour.
Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep dough chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
Roll out dough between sheets of parchment paper to
1/8-inch-thick round, 14 inches in diameter. Remove top sheet of
parchment. Using bottom sheet as aid, transfer dough on parchment to
large baking sheet. Chill 15 minutes.
Innards:
2-3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 ripe, Bosc pears, thinly sliced
1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/3 cup walnut pieces
8 – 10 slices prosciutto {may also use speck- the German form of proscuitto}
1 egg white
sea salt
Preheat oven to 415.
Caramelize onions, with butter, in a large skillet, over low heat.
Evenly arrange the onions in the center of the rolled out pie crusts. Top with sliced pears (fanned out), blue cheese, walnut pieces and the prosciutto strips.
Fold the outer two inches of dough into the galette, overlapping.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg white. Brush the egg wash over the outer crust. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes.
Garnish with fresh rosemary.
I do believe you'll be seeing more galettes here in the coming months! Any requests for ingredients? Sweet or savory?
