So what is a galette? I hear you ask… A galette is a rustic tart with hand-folded edges… it can be sweet or savoury.
I absolutely LOVE butternut squash and have found many, many ways to enjoy this versatile vegetable. But I have never cooked it in a galette. In fact, I have never attempted a galette.
Today was the day!
Serves 6
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Plain Flour – 110g
Ground Semolina – 40g
Salt – ½ Tsp/2.5g
Freshly ground black pepper – ½ Tsp/1g
Butter – 85g
Tap Water (cold) – 60ml
Butternut Squash – 400g
Extra Virgin One Calorie Spray, Fry Light – 30 Sprays/6ml
Fresh Thyme – 2 Tsps/2g
Ricotta Cheese – 115g
Gouda Cheese, Grated – 115g
Garlic – 10 Cloves/30g
Parmesan Cheese, Grated – 1½ Tbsps/15g
Method
First, make the dough. Add the flour, semolina and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until it forms a crumbly mix.
Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time (between 2 – 4 tblsp), until the dough sticks together and forms a ball (don’t make it too moist).
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it into a ball with your hands. Cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the butter harden. You can leave it in the fridge for up to a day; if you want to make the dough in the morning, you can complete your galette later in the day.
Next prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Spray two baking sheets with 15 squirts of the spray oil.
Peel and cut the butternut squash into two halves, and cut each half into thin (5mm) slices.
In a large bowl, combine 1 clove of the peeled and chopped garlic and chopped thyme and stir. Add the squash slices and 15 squirts of the spray oil and toss to ensure that the slices are completely coated. Spread the slices onto one of the baking sheets. Scatter the remaining garlic cloves (whole and unpeeled) in between the slices. Put the baking sheets into the oven and bake until the garlic and butternut squash are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool.
While that’s baking, get your galette dough ready. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a large circle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer this disk to parchment paper-lined baking sheet and put it in the fridge until ready to use.
Once the garlic is cooled, peel and put in the reserved bowl. Mash the garlic until it is a smooth paste, then stir in the ricotta cheese.
Now, we put the galette together. Pull your dough disk from the fridge. Spread the garlic-cheese mixture over the top, leaving a 1-inch border along the edges (this is what will be folded over).
Arrange your slices of squash over the garlic-cheese mixture. While you don’t have to make it pretty, it’s fun to do so and you can arrange the squash in a lovely spiralling circle. Just don’t let the slices overlap too much. Too thick, and it’ll be too heavy for the galette crust and it’ll break when you serve it later.
Sprinkle the Gouda cheese over the top.
Next, fold the edges toward the centre of the galette. Remember the tips I gave you above, if you’re having any trouble getting the crust to fold nicely.
Sprinkle the edges of the crust with the parmesan cheese.
Place your galette in the oven and bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
Let cool slightly before slicing and serve it up warm. Yum!
Healthy food doesn’t all have to be prepared from scratch. I have found a number of ready-prepared dishes that regularly feature on the menu. Today is a Tesco Healthy Living Citrus blackened Cajun chicken breast fillet – only 25 minutes to cook (remove lid from foil dish, pop into pre-heated oven for 25 minutes…) It’s pretty decent quality chicken, and only 171 calories.