Rustic Vegetable Galette
Summer seems to have quietly slipped away from my little corner of the world, replaced by cooler days, yellowing leaves, fallen chestnuts and the desire for heartier fare. The days are now a little bit quieter and the nights steal in a sooner, inspiring a hunt for a good novel and woollen socks. And possibly a bit of butter to help me ease into the cooler months ahead.
This summer season we planted a crop of pumpkins and zucchinis, and recently harvested the last remaining vegetables. The garden is now rather empty, except for a few persistent tomatoes dangling from their precarious holds, which we’ll eat up in the next few days. But what do you do when you have a excess of pumpkins and zucchinis, and all you want to do is curl up in a comfy chair, glass of wine in one hand and a good book in the other? You make a roasted vegetable galette, that’s what! And what, exactly, is a galette you ask. It’s essentially a rustic type of tart with hand folded edges that you can fill with anything you like.
It’s buttery and delicious and the crust is firm enough that you can easily eat it one handed. Very handy for when your other hand is being used to turn pages and sip wine. This is a great meal to share, but is equally good to eat alone. I enjoy this best when I know I’ll have a few hours to myself, so I can nibble away at it very slowly while I lose myself in the pages of a good book and a heady glass of red wine. It’s one of those dishes that is very easily adaptable and perfect for a night of indulgence. It ticks all the boxes, with its flaky crust and sweet caramelised filling. It’s incredibly moreish, so don’t be surprised if by the end of a few chapters you go back for more, only to discover you’ve already eaten the whole thing!The beauty of this recipe is that you can use absolutely anything you like for the filling, and you can easily adapt it to make a quick and easy dessert too.
This recipe is also fantastic to use up any leftovers. Day old potato bake is especially good. All you have to do is arrange the potatoes in the middle of the pastry, add a sprinkling of cheese and you have a very easy, not to mention, very enjoyable, dinner. Even though the filling for this recipe is caramelised and scrumptious, it’s the pastry that does it for me. I just love it. It’s so simple, so flaky, so versatile. Sooo delicious! I’ve actually been tempted to simply roll out the dough and bake it as is. Instead, I've used about every vegetable and fruit you can think of to make both sweet and savoury versions of this dish. I also love the fact that it’s a free-form pastry. It’s rolled out flat, then folded around the filling in any way you choose, and baked without the stability of a pan. Pretty easy. You don’t have to be stuffy with this recipe at all. Sometimes the pastry might tear and cracks might form here and there, but don’t stress about it. It just adds to the appeal and makes the tearing into it a lot easier. All you have to do is use good quality ingredients and the best butter you can afford for the pastry, and you will end up with a gloriously rustic, golden brown, flaky work of art.
Once you’ve made this and familiarised yourself with the basics, you’ll come up with excuses to make this time and time again. Even thought the dough is very easy to whip up, I make a batch so that I can store some in the fridge in case I get a craving for something buttery, which, during the Autumn season, is bound to happen more often than not.
Love and light!
Susanna xo