The classic galette. Ours is a deliciously golden, flaky pastry loaded with ricotta and spring vegetables including courgette, asparagus and fresh peas. Think of it as the close relation to the humble pie…but easier to make!
‘Galette’ derives from the Norman word of ‘gale’ meaning flat cake. In French cuisine ‘galette’ is often used to describe baked treats that do not require tin, which is why galettes are very popular to make due to the simplicity in it’s preparation. You simply roll out your pastry, fill it with your desired sweet or savoury toppings, and fold it up!
- Start by making the wholewheat spelt pastry. In a large bowl mix together the spelt flour and Maldon Salt. Add the cold, cubed butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs – it is ok here to have a few larger lumps of butter as it is a rougher textured pastry. Once the butter is incorporated, make a well in the middle and add the beaten egg. Mix this in, along with 1 or 2 tbsp of cold water to make it come together to form a smooth and slightly tacky dough.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for 40 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, prepare the fillings for the galette. In a small bowl mix together the ricotta, lemon zest, chopped chives and dill plus some cracked black pepper and Maldon Salt.
- Heat a griddle pan and brush each side of the courgette slices with olive oil. When the pan is hot, grill the courgette slices on each side for 1 minute or so until they have nice char lines and have softened. Do this in batches and remove the slices from the pan as they are cooked onto a plate.
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Once the dough has rested, remove it from the fridge and remove the clingfilm. Lightly dust a surface with flour and then roll the pastry out until it is roughly ½ cm thick. The edges can remain fairly rustic as that is the style of this galette. Roll the pastry around your rolling pin and transfer onto a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Spread the ricotta mixture across the pastry, leaving a 1-inch gap around the edges. Top the ricotta with the fresh garden peas, and then scatter across the asparagus spears. Drizzle this with olive oil. Then carefully fold the edges of the pastry in and slowly crimp and fold as you work your way around. Brush the pastry edges with the beaten egg.
- Place the galette in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the charred courgette slices to the top of the filling, giving them texture and shape by curling them amongst the peas and asparagus. Place the galette back in the oven for a further 5 – 10 minutes until the pastry is lightly golden brown and the courgette is warmed through.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle over some dill fronds, some cracked black pepper and some Maldon Salt.
