Best Galette Recipes

Galettes are flat, round, rustic pies, popular in French cuisine, that are made using a freestyle design.

JUNE 21, 2020 11:54

ARTICHOKE AND CHEESE GALETTE (photo credit: PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN) — ARTICHOKE AND CHEESE GALETTE

(photo credit: PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN)

Galettes are flat, round, rustic pies, popular in French cuisine, that are made using a freestyle design. They don’t rely on the edge of a pan to give it a nice round shape but are baked on standard baking pans.

You fold the edges of the dough in toward the middle, so that some of the filling is trapped underneath the crust. The filling can be sweet or savory, and include any vegetable or fruit you desire.

Since summer fruit are currently in season, two of the recipes I’ve included here call for apricots and peaches, while the third is a savory galette made with artichokes and cheese. You can use any other summer fruits – plums or nectarines – to make a galette, or use other popular vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes, onions or any canned vegetable.

Learn more about Pascale's Kitchen here>>

Galettes have flaky crusts made with real butter. On top of the crust, you can spread on a layer of almond cream, cheese or custard, and then on top arrange pieces of seasonal fruit. If you want, you can soften the fruit pieces by adding sugar. You can also change the type of dough you make and create a variety of different textures. In addition, depending on how you fold over the dough, you can create unique shapes.

Using the two recipes below for fruit galettes, you can prepare small, individual galettes that are 14-16 cm. in diameter. The recipe for the artichoke and cheese galette makes pies that are 18-20 cm. in diameter and include olive tapenade and spicy green peppers.

ARTICHOKE AND CHEESE GALETTE

Makes 3 galettes with a diameter of 18-20 cm.

Dough:

250 gr. flour, sifted

50 gr. butter or margarine

½ container sour cream

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. lemon juice

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup water, depending on absorbency of dough

Filling:

1 cup artichoke pesto (or any type of pesto)

½ cup olive tapenade or chopped olives

1 Tbsp. chopped herbs (basil, thyme or oregano)

1 can (500 gr.) of artichokes in oil

100 gr. feta cheese, crumbled

100 gr. manchego cheese, crumbled or sliced into thin swirls

1 spicy green pepper, chopped

Egg wash:

1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water or milk

Topping:

¼ cup light sesame seeds

¼ cup dark sesame seeds

To prepare the dough, add the flour, butter, cream, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix well. While mixing, add as much water as needed. Mix well. Remove the dough from the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.

Place a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll out the dough into a circle that is ½ cm. thick. Cut out 2 or 3 circles of desired size and transfer to a baking tray covered with baking paper. Prepare all of the circles in the same fashion and then put them all in the fridge for 10 more minutes.

Remove from the fridge and spread on a thin layer of artichoke pesto and olive tapenade. Sprinkle chopped herbs on top. Spread the artichoke hearts so that they overlap with each other. Next, sprinkle the cheeses on top and then the chopped pepper. Leave 1-2 cm. of the dough closest to the edge free of any toppings or filling. Prepare the rest of the galettes in the same fashion.

Pick up the edge of the dough and fold over the filling in an asymmetrical fashion, leaving most of the filling exposed. Brush the dough with egg wash and then sprinkle with light and dark sesame seeds. Put in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 180° for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with a little olive oil. Serve hot.

Level of difficulty: Medium.

Time: 90 minutes.

Status: Parve or dairy.

TIPascale Feel free to add herbs, sesame seeds, chocolate or cocoa powder to dough. You can use store-bought crusts.

APRICOT GALETTE

Makes 6-8 individual galettes with a diameter of 12-14 cm.

Dough:

2 cups flour, sifted

50 gr. finely ground almonds

100 gr. sugar

½ tsp. salt

200 gr. butter/margarine, softened and cut into cubes

1 large egg

1 tsp. lemon juice

1-2 drops cold water

Filling:

5-8 medium apricots, pitted and sliced thinly

1 tsp. vanilla sugar

2-3 drops lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

Almond cream:

1 cup ground almonds

¼ cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. flour, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. rum extract

Egg wash:

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water or milk

Topping:

½ cup almond slivers

Powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. apricot jam, softened in the microwave

To prepare the dough, place the flour, almonds, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and blend. While mixing, add the butter or margarine, egg, lemon juice and water. Mix well. Remove dough from the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place dough in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.

To prepare the filling, place the apricot slices with the vanilla sugar, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and mix together. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the almond cream ingredients: almonds, powdered sugar, cinnamon, egg yolk, butter, flour, vanilla and rum. Mix together well.

Place the baking paper on the work surface and roll out the dough until it’s ½ cm. thick.

Cut out a circle of the desired size and transfer to a baking pan that is lined with a sheet of baking paper. Prepare all of the dough circles in the same fashion and put them in the ridge for 10 more minutes.

Take the dough circles out of the fridge and spread a thin layer of the almond cream, and then add the apricot slices so that they overlap with each other. Leave a 1-2 cm. gap between the fruit and the edge of the circle. Do the same on all of the circles.

Lift up the edge of the dough carefully and fold it over the filling in an asymmetrical way, so that most of the filling is left exposed. Brush the crust with the egg wash and then sprinkle with sugar or almonds slivers. Place back in the fridge for anther 30 minutes.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 180° for 35-40 minutes. Remove and brush the fruit with apricot jam and let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Level of difficulty: Medium.

Time: 90 minutes.

Status: Parve or dairy.

PEACH GALETTE

Makes 6-8 individual galettes with a diameter of 12-14 cm.

Dough:

1½ cups flour, sifted

½ cup ground almonds

5 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 packet vanilla sugar

9-10 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened

1 medium egg

2-3 Tbsp. cold water, according to need

Filling:

3-4 small peaches, sliced thinly

1 tsp. vanilla sugar

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

2-3 drops lemon juice

1 cup plum jam, softened in the microwave

1 cup sugared hazelnuts, ground (or ground Petit-Beurre)

Egg wash:

1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water or milk

Topping:

½ cup roasted sugared hazelnuts, ground

2 Tbsp. pistachios, ground

Serving suggestion:

Ice cream or powdered sugar

To prepare the dough, place the flour, almonds, powdered sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend. While mixing, add the vanilla sugar, butter (one spoonful at a time) and the egg. Add the water slowly, until you reach the desired texture. Remove dough from the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.

To prepare the filling, add the peach slices, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon juice to a bowl. Mix and set aside.

Place a sheet of baking paper on the work surface and roll out the dough until it’s ½ cm. thick.

Cut out a circle of the desired size and transfer to a baking pan covered with baking paper. Prepare all of the dough circles and then place them in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Take the circles out of the oven and brush with a thin layer of plum jam and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Arrange peach slices in the center of the circle so that they overlap. Prepare the rest of the dough circles in a similar fashion, leaving 1-2 cm. of dough around the edge with no filling. Pick up the edge and fold over on top of the filling in an asymmetrical fashion, leaving most of the filling exposed.

Put the galettes back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Take them out and brush the dough with the egg wash, then sprinkle with roasted hazelnuts and pistachios.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 180° for 35-40 minutes until it turns golden brown. Let cool and serve with a scoop of ice cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Level of difficulty: Medium.

Time: 90 minutes.

Status: Parve or dairy.

Translated by Hannah Hochner.