galette

Galette is a French term that refers to a variety of flat round cakes, usually made with flaky pastry dough.

Galettes can be sweet or savory. Although it is most common for galettes to be filled with fruits or chocolate and served for dessert, savory galettes are a satisfying meal on their own.

When making this galette, it is important to have the filling ingredients chilled or at room temperature. A hot filling will melt the butter in the dough before it hits the oven, preventing the crust from becoming flaky and crispy.

One of the filling ingredients in this galette is an onion jam. I link you to that recipe in the list of ingredients.

I made a simpler version for this galette by eliminating the vinegar and raisins in that original onion jam recipe and instead of adding a couple of teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves. Either version will work wonderfully here.

Joanne Weir made a Mushroom and Blue Cheese Galette in cooking class at Les Gourmettes last week. It was fabulous! I was the lucky recipient of an extra round of dough for the crust. It is an outstanding dough. It is flaky and crispy and delicious. The recipe below is for Joanne’s dough and my filling.

Caramelized Onion, Chicken, and Sweet Potato Galette

Crust
1  1/4 cups flour, placed in the freezer for 1 hour before using
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and placed in the freezer for 1 hour
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water

Filling
1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 cup caramelized onion jam, at room temperature or chilled
1/2 cup cooked sliced chicken breast, at room temperature or chilled
1 medium heirloom tomato, seeded and diced

Crust: Place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse two times to combine. Add the butter and pulse several times until most of the mixture is the size of bread crumbs with a few pieces the size of peas.

Dump the mixture out onto the work surface in a pile. Spread out the pile a little. Make a well in the center. Whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice, and water and add half of the liquid to the well. With your fingers, mix the liquid with the dry ingredients until large lumps hold together. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid. Use only as much of the liquid as needed to hold the dough together.

Gather the dough together and place it on a sheet of plastic wrap. Enclose the dough in the plastic and flatten it into a circle. Let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to make a 12-inch circle. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Filling: While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the sliced sweet potatoes in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on the foil. Drizzle with any oil left in the bowl and bake for 15 minutes.

Turn potato slices over and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender and golden. Set aside to cool completely. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.

(If it looks like a lot more potato slices than 1 potato could create – it’s because this is three potatoes. I had three, so I roasted three, only 1 is needed for this recipe)

To Assemble: Remove the rolled-out dough from the refrigerator and spread the cheese in the center, leaving a 1  1/2-inch border.

Top with the onion jam.

Make a ring of potato slices around the edge of the onions. Place the chicken pieces in the center and top with the diced tomatoes.

Fold the uncovered edge of the pastry up and over the filling, pleating to make it fit, as shown.

Bake until the crust is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6