A Summer Tomato Galette

Last weekend I took the long way to breakfast. 

I was committed to having a slow Saturday morning which meant one too many cups of coffee, taking a few aimless laps around my house, and discovering a languishing tomato hiding among the oranges in the fruit bowl. 

What to do with one fine tomato?  Commit to a galette. Once I was locked in I happened to find another tomato in the crisper and a few wrinkled cherry tomatoes that had been pushed to the back of the fridge. A bounty – to be sure. If I hadn’t found such tomato wealth, I would have added sliced zucchini and more onions to this galette. It’s a freeforall. What we put in our pie crust should be between us and God, ya know? 

The invitation is to galette something this weekend.  Tomato is a great idea. They’re so lovely this time of year and they’ll be gone faster that we’d like to admit. I added cheese and onions and herbs but this is recipe is super versatile and yours to play with this Saturday and Sunday. 

Here’s what you’ll need to recreate this Summer Tomato Galette: 

•  Ingredients for pie curst: flour, salt, butter, and cold water or cold buttermilk. 

•  A pound and a half of tomatoes. Any tomatoes, any way you got em. I had a beefsteak, an heirloom, and a handful of wrinkled cherry tomatoes. I say wrinkled to let you know that if tomatoes are a bit past their prime, they still have a place to shine here. 

•  Half of a red onion, or a sweet yellow onion, or a shallot, or no onion at all. 

•  A head of garlic, roasted to basically jam.  If you don’t like garlic, forget I mentioned it. 

•  Fresh herbs like parsley and oregano. Basil would be nice to finish.

•  Salt and pepper

• Crumbled goat cheese though honestly I’d use feta or gruyere or really any other cheese I had on hand. 

•  An egg for egg wash.   

First I made the pie crust because it needs an hour or so to rechill in the refrigerator. 

We’ve made pie crust together before. You know the deal.  

Bring the butter to pea size bits for this galette – I also added a splash more cold water because I wanted to ensure the crust rolled out without any fuss.  

Wrap the disk of pie crust in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour while you prepare the rest of the filling, and maybe have a second cup of coffee. 

Gather ye tomatoes.  

Weigh them if you’re feeling fancy or guestimate about a pound and a half. 

Slice the tomatoes into about 1/4-inch thick slices, or in half in you have little cherry babies. Slice the onion thin as well – just use as much as you’d like.  

Place the tomato slices in a bowl and season with a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper.  Use your hand to gently toss it all together to disperse the salt.  Allow the tomatoes to sit for 15 minutes or so.  The salt will both season the tomatoes and help draw some of their juices (the ones that would make the galette super soggy) to the bottom of the bowl.  

Out of an abundance of caution, transfer the tomato slices to a paper towel lined baking sheet, to further absorb their juice.  Don’t worry – there will still be plenty of moisture inside the galette. 

Once the crust has chilled, roll it out into a roughly 13 to 14-inch circle just less than 1/4-inch thick.  

Trim the edges with a knife and place the circle on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Brush the crust with beaten egg.  Sprinkle with cheese, leaving about 2-inches of the edges free to fold over.  

Add the roasted garlic and fresh herbs. Layer on the tomatoes and onions and sprinkle on a bit more goat cheese if you’d like.  

Fold up the sides bit my bit.  

Brush with egg wash and place the galette in the fridge or freezer while the oven preheats. 

For extra credit you could also sprinkle the outside of the crust with sunflower, poppy,  and pumpkin seeds! 

Bake for about 40 minutes or so until the crust is deeply golden and the inside is wonderfully bubbly.  

I let the tart cool for a full 4 minutes before slicing into it and burning my mouth. I also ate the entire galette, myself, in a single Saturday with absolutely no regrets. 

This is your cue to gather a languishing or lonely tomato, maybe zucchini, whatever you have. Galette it this weekend.  It’s one of summer’s great joys.  

A Summer Tomato Galette

★★★★★ 5 from 9 reviews

• Author: Joy the Baker

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Description

A savory summer galette with tomatoes or whatever summer veggies you have on hand! 

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Ingredients

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup cold water, plus a few splashes more if needed
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1½ lb. heirloom tomatoes, sliced ¼” thick (or really whatever tomatoes you have on hand)
• half a red onion thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or a small head of roasted garlic
• 3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• a few tablespoons of fresh herbs like parsley and oregano
• 1 large egg, beaten with a splash of water for egg wash
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

1. To make the pie crust, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add cold, cubed butter and, using your fingers (or a potato masher), work the butter into the flour mixture. Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture, some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes, some will be the size of peas. Create a well in the mixture and pour in the 1/4 cup cold water and vinegar. Use a fork to bring to dough together. Try to moisten all of the flour bits. Add a bit more water if necessary, but you want to mixture to be shaggy and not overly wet and sticky.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the dough mixture. It will be moist and shaggy. That’s perfect. Gently knead into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Allowing the dough to rest in the refrigerator will help rechill the butter and distribute the moisture.
3. To roll out the pie crust, on a well floured surface, roll the crust a little under 1/4 inch thick and about 12 to 13 inches in diameter. Trim the shaggy edges to a smooth round circle. Transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Gently toss tomatoes, raw garlic (if using), and sliced onions in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Let sit 5-15 minutes (tomatoes will start releasing some liquid). Drain tomato mixture and transfer to paper towels.
5. To assemble, brush the pie crust with egg wash. Sprinkle with most of the goat cheese, all of the garlic, a good sprinkle of fresh herbs, and arrange tomato slices and onion slices atop the crust. Sprinkle with a bit more goat cheese and fold the crust up around the tomatoes.
6. Brush with egg wash. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and refrigerate the galette while the oven heats. Bake for. 40-50 minutes until golden and bubbling, rotating once during baking. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for just a few minutes. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve warm.

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