plug me in for a recharge
Recipe: savory goat cheese parmesan galette
I have a horrible habit of feeling like the whole day has gone to hell in a hand basket if I wake up late. And by late, I am talking about 7 am on a weekend… because I want to be on the trail by 6 am, see? [I’m pretty sure that was my dad’s doing because every weekend morning if my sister and I were not up and ready to go sailing by 7, he would come in and boom, “Are you going to waste your whole life away?!”] It’s not limited to mornings though. I missed a certain wildflower bloom while I was busy working on a major deadline. I met that bloody deadline. And yet I couldn’t help but feel like the wildflower season was over. But it’s not over, as I discovered.
the flowers, they are still there
plenty of parry’s primroses up high
I felt like I needed to get outside and do my thing, and that hike helped to jolt me out of this ridiculous mindset that the flowers were done and summer nearly ended. No, we are in the thick of summer and it is a glorious summer at that. I’m feeling refreshed, recharged, invigorated. Sure, I missed the early bloomers, but now I get to enjoy the mid-season flowers – brilliant pink parry’s primroses and fireweed; little blue forget-me-nots just starting in the alpine basins; pink, red, magenta, cream, and yellow paintbrush; purple asters, yellow sunflowers. I felt so wiped out last week, but I think I was just decompressing and bouncing back.
this is my therapy
[You can see the rest of the photos on the photo blog.] And believe it or not, I got some baking mojo back. Cooler, rainy weather helps with that and there has been a recipe I had been mulling over in my head for a year now. I love galettes, because they are easy and beautiful in that rustic way. Most galettes are sweet and while I enjoy fruity galettes, I really really had my heart set on a savory galette. I’ll take savory over sweet any day.
yup, butter goes into the parmesan crust
pour cold water in
I found a nice recipe for a Parmesan galette pastry and tweaked it a little bit. It comes together quickly in a food processor and then sits in the refrigerator. For the filling, I chose a bunch of ingredients I had on hand. You could put any combination of wonderful flavors in this galette as long as they aren’t too soggy.
mmm bacon, garlic, thyme, zucchini, goat cheese
Roasted garlic has always appealed to me for its nutty and buttery texture. It plays beautifully with goat cheese. If you want a punch to the filling, then you could mince the raw garlic and mix it in the with goat cheese – letting it bake in the oven instead.
roasted garlic
roasted garlic, goat cheese, salt, pepper, thyme
The bacon I’ve been using for the past several months is Applegate Farms’ Sunday Organic Bacon. I first used it when I hosted the POV Food, Inc. potluck. Jeremy and I took a taste of the bacon, looked at one another and said, “Wow!” The flavor and texture is excellent – my current favorite.
mise en place
get the dough out of the refrigerator
I like rolling my dough between two pieces of plastic wrap because it almost always sticks to my rolling pin. The edges don’t have to be perfectly intact either. It’s a galette – rustic. I like rustic because it basically means I can be a sloppy bum. The nice thing about rolling your dough out on plastic is that you can pick the whole thing up and slap it onto your parchment.
spread some filling in the center
layer the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle with parmesan
The dough was pliable, but I think I tend to add a teensy bit extra liquid because I hate working with super crumbly dough. If your dough breaks when you fold the edges, just press it together and call it good.
fold up the edges
baked
I did try making mini 3-inch galettes, but when I baked them, the edges unfurled and they looked like hand-molded tarts instead. They tasted fine though. The crust is crisp and flaky with a nice bite from the Parmesan. I think I could have added a second layer of zucchini to balance the creaminess of the goat cheese filling, but that’s just my preference. Two thumbs up and a waggy tail at the House of Butter. I really like the crust recipe. I’ll definitely be playing around with more savory galettes.
serve warm
Savory Goat Cheese Parmesan Galette
[print recipe]
galette dough from here
dough
8 oz. unsalted butter, cubed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz. cold water
Place the butter, flour, sugar, cheese, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the butter is pea-sized. With the processor running, quickly add all of the water until just barely combined (do not over-mix). Empty the contents of the processor onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press it into two flat disks about 4-inches across each. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
filling
1 bulb garlic, roasted (I lop the top, drizzle olive oil and bake at 375°F for an hour, covered)
8 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
1 tsp fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 medium zucchini, sliced thin
olive oil
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
grated Parmesan cheese (extra)
Oven 400°F. Peel all of the roasted garlic cloves and chop or mash into a paste. Discard the skins. In a medium bowl, combine the roasted garlic, goat cheese, thyme, salt, and pepper and mix. In a small bowl, toss the zucchini slices with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until coated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll each disk out to a 1/8-inch thickness and 12-inches in diameter. I like to do this using a rolling pin while the dough is sandwiched between two sheets of plastic wrap because it can be kind of sticky/messy. When you get the right size and thickness, remove the top sheet of plastic and flip the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Remove the second sheet of plastic. Spread a layer of the goat cheese mixture in the center of the dough leaving about a 3-inch margin on the border. Top the cheese with zucchini slices, bacon, and an extra sprinkle of Parmesan. Fold the edges of the galette up and over the ingredients (see photo above). Bake 20-25 minutes or until the pastry has turned a golden brown. Makes 2 9-inch galettes.
August 4th, 2010 at 12:59 am
Delicious! I make fruit galettes all the time and really should try a savoury one for a change. Oh, and 7am is relatively early for me, but if I had that much scenery to wake up to, I’d probably be bouncing out of bed :)
August 4th, 2010 at 1:13 am
Cheesy crusts for the win… Made one using sour cream the other day (pinched from Smitten Kitchen) and it was pretty dang good, but your cheesy version sounds like it could be even better.
August 4th, 2010 at 3:01 am
I also get upset if ever I wake up after 6:30am… even on holiday, even during the week-ends, even if I went to bed at 5am and it’s been like that since I turned about 10. It really does feel like the whole day is wasted if I wake up later, it’s good to know that there are others like me out there!
August 4th, 2010 at 3:42 am
I am really, really not an early riser. I have no nice scenery to wake up to… But anyway, this galette looks so good! I love the amount of butter in the crust :D
Wei Wei
August 4th, 2010 at 5:21 am
What amazing photography and a beautiful recipe… I am delighted to have discovered your blog!
Robyn
August 4th, 2010 at 5:23 am
I just love your pictures. They are beautiful. I can’t get over how blue the sky looks. I haven’t been cooking or baking much lately since it has been soooo hot and humid here. Hitting 100 or higher lately.
August 4th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Wow! that looks so delicious! :)
August 4th, 2010 at 6:21 am
I keep bouncing around the idea of a savory galette, but then have to edit out everything the fiance won’t eat. *sigh* This looks wonderful, I’d just have to edit out the zucchini on his half :) And I have the same problem with my definition of sleeping in – if I’m not up by 6a, even on weekends, I freak out that I’ve wasted my life. Thank you mom :P
August 4th, 2010 at 6:28 am
You’ve got me craving savory food at 9:20am, Jen! :)
What a beautiful galette – I love free form tarts like this one but have only made sweet versions of them. Gotta try the savory ones, too – it looks delicious!
As for waking up early, when I was younger I love sleeping till late. Now, I feel like you do – if I stay in bed too long I feel like I’m wasting precious time!
xx
August 4th, 2010 at 6:52 am
Looks delicious! I love savory tarts and pies with all of this bounty of summer veggies.
August 4th, 2010 at 7:33 am
This looks amazing! All of my favorite things mixed together! I love savory galettes – my favorite is a butternut squash with caramelized onion. Can’t wait to give this one a try!
August 4th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Awesome! I can’t wait to be home in a couple of weeks and head out on my favorite trails in the Alps. Gosh I’d move back just for that. Oh wait, moving out West would be much easier first!!
I am in a goat cheese mood too lately. And I just made a sweet galette :)
This one *will* be made this Sunday for brunch!
August 4th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Nice! I was just gifted some zucchini and we’re on a bacon kick lately so this will be perfect. Thanks for reminding me to get out and enjoy this beautiful state we live in.
August 4th, 2010 at 9:29 am
The galette is lovely and reminds me I have a pastry in my freezer I need to use.
But I’m far happier to feel your renewed energy coming through. Enjoy the rest of the summer, and the flowers, and that beautiful, beautiful therapy.
August 4th, 2010 at 9:30 am
I am SO going to make this tonight! It looks fantastic, thank you.
August 4th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Goes to show you that there are always more hidden gems & it’s not surprising that you would be the person to find them. What joy it would be to go for a gorgeous hike like this to un-wind! As always the wildflowers are so purty!
And you’re killing me with that galette, I can smell it over here.
Anything savory, goat cheesy and bacony is my favorite!
August 4th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I like the look of that, but I’m not a big goat cheese/zucchini fan…I think I’d do a ricotta and maybe tomatoes to replace those things…but the crust does look amazing..could that be baked on a pizza stone?
August 4th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
That looks so good. I haven’t made a galette for so long. It may be time to try one again.
August 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I’m all about doughs with savory fillings. Any bacon! Everything is better with bacon! (Dreamy photos, too!)
August 4th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Wow. This is one of the best galettes I’ve seen. Beautiful!
August 4th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I love the step by step photos. I’m abig fan of goat’s cheese and zucchini and bacon so this galette has all my favoruite things. Plus given all the sweets I’m eating, a savory galette is more than welcome.
August 5th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Jen – I’d like a little slice of that wildflower therapy and a slice of that beautiful galette when I return. We recently discovered some incredible bacon and I need to see if I can order some. If not, I’ll have to try your source.
August 5th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Looks phenomenal. I’m also obsessed with roasted garlic, well, just with garlic in general. Looks amazing!
August 5th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Yup. I think your baking mojo is back in full force!
August 5th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Wow, this looks amazing! And I love galettes, although I’ve only made sweet – until now! Can’t wait to get in the kitchen and get this made so I can have a taste!
August 5th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
WOW. Those are some astonishing photos there! Worth getting up for! And ANYTIME you can combine more than 1 kind of cheese – I am IN! Love it! Can’t wait to try it!
August 5th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
You have a great eye in capturing these pics. Super amazing pictures!! Thank you.
Bridget (The Internet Chef)
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 am
beautiful, beautiful photographs. I love the water in slow-motion as you captured it. But that galette – ummmm. would love to try this one.
August 6th, 2010 at 4:40 am
wow that looks awesome. i love goat cheese.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
oh my, that looks ridiculously good ! love all the pictures!
August 6th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Oh YUM!!!!!
August 8th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Very good looking savoury galette! Have been a while since i made them too! Can’t wait to be back in my kitchen after this vacation!
August 8th, 2010 at 11:28 am
This looks delicious! The crust is gorgeous!
August 8th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
I just tried this tonight (made the dough last night). My husband doesn’t like goat cheese (…I know) and I didn’t have any other similar subs, so to add some creaminess I spread the galette with a few tbsp of kale pesto mixed with nuked cream cheese. Sounds trashy, I guess it probably is, but tasted great. One galette (for children) was topped with pepperoni (it was quality pepperoni! that’s my excuse) and the other with sauteed zucchini & garlic plus Hearth Roast fake sausage (for a vegetarian).
The fillings were fine, the crust is UNBELIEVABLE. Flaky, out of this world delicious. I guess it should be, with all that butter, but I agree with your blog’s stated philosophy. Sometimes you have to use the butter.
Thank you for this lovely recipe–I know I will be revisiting it again soon!
August 9th, 2010 at 8:34 am
I just made this today, and it was SO AWESOME! Made it for a gathering with a few friends, sans the bacon, cos a few of them don’t eat pork, and with lemon zest/juice and chives in the goat cheese instead of thyme and garlic, and it was just so bright and summery and totally fantastic! Made it with two layers of zucchini and it was just fantastic! I especially love that the dough just comes together in the processor in a minute. I only made one galette, so I have a (small) lump of dough left—gonna try just baking it like savoury cookies tomorrow. Thanks for a truly great recipe!
August 11th, 2010 at 3:10 am
Wow, the galette looks amazing. I can smell it’s savory goodness from here.
As usual, I really enjoy your wildflower photographs.
August 12th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Patricia – ha! Well, it’s the least I can do because you always have me craving those lovely sweets you post at any hour of the day :)
Laura – that sounds fantastic.
Helen – ha ha, I know you can make anything look good, but your goat cheese creations make me swoon.
Diane & Todd – I will bring you here next summer. It’s a lovely hike near the one we did last June!
Mary – It could definitely be baked on a pizza stone, but make sure you have parchment because the butter makes a big greasy mess.
Laurel – your combos sound great. That’s why I love this recipe, it’s super flexible :)
August 16th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Um, I want I want I want! I love galettes like this. There is something so rustic and simple about them in both sweet and savory forms. Mouth watering all over the darned place.
December 21st, 2011 at 5:28 am
[…] the tart dough (recipe from Use Real Butter) Ingredients 4 oz. unsalted butter, cubed 1 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tbsp sugar 2 Tbs Parmigiano […]