Saturday, October 06, 2007

autumn galette

A galette is a tart made with an unleavened crust -- basically a sort of rustic tart to you and me.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced (1 stick)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times more, until the dough starts to stick together, but don’t let the dough form a mass around the blade. Remove the blade and bring the dough together by hand. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
1 large apple, cored and halved from top to bottom
1 small or 1/2 medium butternut squash
1 small yellow onion, peeled, and cut in half
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons sweet mustard (I used Stonewall Kitchen's Maine Maple Mustard)

Turn the apple cut side down and cut it crossways in 1/4 inch thick slices. Cut the squash so the slices are about the same size as the apple. Lay the onion cut side down and slice it into half moon shapes about 1/4 inch thick. Add the oil, mustard, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch disk and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Starting 2 inches from the edge, alternate pieces of apple, squash, and onion in overlapping circles—if you have extra pieces of one or another, tuck them in where you can or double them up to use all the filling. Fold and pleat the dough over the edge of the filling. Bake until the crust is brown and the apple, squash, and onions are tender and caramelized, about an hour. Cool the galette briefly on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve.

The pastry can be used for any number of tart ideas; it's really good.

Peace,
Milton

This recipe was adapted from one I found at Food Network Kitchens.

4 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Milton,

Questions!

If I can't find maple mustard can you recommend a home made version?

I find butternut squash difficult to deal with raw. How do you prepare it for this dish?

What would you serve this with?

Thanks!

don't eat alone said...

Advocate,

You could use some sort of Dijon mustard -- or honey Dijon, if you want it sweeter -- and whisk in the maple syrup.

As far as the squash goes, you can buy it already peeled and seeded and cut in half. Take one half and cut it in two lengthwise. Start at one end and cut slices crossways about the same thickness as the apples.

Peace,
Milton

Anonymous said...

I wish I could, Milton. My rural grocery stores are lucky to carry winter squash at all. I ended up with some beauties that a friend grew himself. I think I'll partially bake them just long enough to soften them up.

I envision this with a pork roast on a cold winter's day. I can't wait for winter!

Thanks!

don't eat alone said...

Advocate

I did a variation on this dish today that may work for you. I took some apples, squash (whatever you can find) and onions, cut them in chunks, tossed them with the olive oil salt, pepper and herbs, and then cooked them in a 450 oven for an hour or so -- until the squash was soft and and the onions a little charred. I then pureed the mixture. I rolled out the dough and spread the mixture like sauce for a pizza and then covered the top with apple slices tossed in olive oil and baked it according to the recipe. It was awesome.

Peace,
Milton