Beet Galette

This was my most successful galette--with a good balance of filling and crust. I've not cooked with beets myself, so this was a new experience. I found the basic outline for this recipe here and made some changes. I used regular beets, and added some roasted new potatoes to extend it out. The dough was the best--I modified a recipe from Martha Stewart, using half butter and half Greek yogurt. I brushed it with egg white and sprinkled herbs and salt over it. It browned up very nicely!

Here is the recipe for the crust as I modified it. I found that putting it in the freezer after rolling it out, really helped to solidify the fats. I'm hoping to try the crust out this month with a different filling in a proper pie pan. I think reducing the salt would be called for if this was for a sweet application, and of course no herbs!

• • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 c toasted oat bran
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1/4 c greek yogurt, whey drained
  • 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a food processor pulse together all-purpose flour, toasted wheat germ, salt, and baking powder. Add cold, unsalted butter, and process until largest pieces are the size of small peas.
2. With machine running, add low-fat buttermilk until dough just holds together.
3. Pat into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight).
4. After rolling out, roll up in parchment and stick in the freezer for 5-10 minutes

Galette--A Pie by Any Other Name

Galette was the Home Cooking Dish of the Month at the Chowhound website, and I thought I'd give it a try. I have to admit that before I saw it on there I didn't know what it was, I thought it was a cake! Turns out it is a free form tart/pie that can be savory or sweet. 

While I was intimidated by the pastry dough, I found a fun recipe at Smitten Kitchen I wanted to try. I didn't use her crust recipe, since the amount of fat in it was daunting to me. Instead I found a quick olive oil whole wheat recipe that promised to be low fat. It was ok, but not something I'll be repeating. The filling was amazing, though! I will for sure repeat the combination of zucchini, herbs, ricotta, feta, and mozzarella. 

I cooked it on my pizza stone, which gave a nice crunch. The only big changes I made to the filling was using more herbs--thyme and rosemary instead of basil. One thing I liked a lot was that it was good hot or room temp, and reheated well.