What’s cooking this weekend, folks? Despite the fact that UK did not get the memo this year and our current average is probably about 18° C (64° F), I am trying my best to ‘manifest’ 😉 summer… In that vein, I have a deliciously summery tomato galette recipe for you today.
Galettes are lazy pies and they are great at any time of the year, but summer is a particularly galette-friendly time. I love them for a couple of reasons. They free from so you don’t have to worry if you have the correct size pie tin in your cupboard. They are flexible – they can be topped with pretty much any vegetable or fruit (I’ve made a peach one, a pumpkin one, a zucchini one and a strawberry one for the blog so far). They look delicious and impressive! Combined with a good salad, they will make for decent main meal. This summery galette has spelt flour crust, a tangy and cheesy interior and is topped with beautifully jammy and oven-caramelised sweet tomatoes in a multitude of colours. Once out of the oven, I dressed it a little by drizzling thinned basil pesto on top, scattering some pan-roasted pine nuts and heaps of fresh basil, but that’s because making food look good is part of my job. We had it for dinner with a mountain of fennel and red pepper slaw (which I am working on a recipe for) and it was delicious. All that was missing was a warm summer evening…I hope you’ll enjoy it and send us some summer if you’ve got it, we are pretty desperate!
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
SPELT FLOUR: I like the rusticity and texture of spelt flour in galettes but you can use wholemeal or white AP flour, but the amount of water needed may be different. To make this crust, GLUTEN-FREE, use a well balanced gluten-free flour and ¾ tsp xanthan gum. VEGAN BUTTER/COCONUT OIL: The best type of fat for pastry, even rustic pastry like this, is the type of fat that’s solid when cold. I used Naturli, but coconut oil (especially odourless coconut oil works well too. Frozen olive oil (place it in a freezer bag and freeze) will work too. You can decrease the amount of fat and use more water, but be aware that the higher fat to flour ratio, the nicer the pie crust.. APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: Adding a small amount of acid (lemon juice could be used instead) to a pie dough produces a nicer crust as it tenderises gluten giving the crust a nicer mouthfeel. TOMATOES: Use ripe tomatoes of any shape and size. Make sure to salt them and drain excess moisture before topping the galette as otherwise they will release all that excess moisture in the oven, making the pie watery. FENNEL SEEDS: I used a small amount of pan-toasted & crushed fennel seeds to flavour the tomatoes, alongside garlic. Fennel seeds have a pretty assertive, aniseedy flavour so if you are not a fan, simply skip or replace with lemony coriander seeds instead. As with fennel seeds, toasting them a dry pan and crushing before adding to the tomatoes is recommended. CASHEWS: Cashews form a deliciously creamy base for the filling, but you can also use sunflower seeds instead. They are a lot cheaper and a great alternative, especially if you have nut allergies. I find that sunflower seeds to contribute more taste than cashews, but there is so much going on here that they won’t take centre stage, promise. Both cashews and sunflower seeds need to be soaked before blending. Ideally soak for a few hours in cold water, but if you want to speed things up 30 minute soak in boiling water also does the job. Drain well before blending! GARLIC: A clove (or two if you are a fan!) is great here. I often like to use a few roasted garlic cloves instead for a mellower flavour. To roast the garlic, cut the top of the garlic head off (I recommend roasting 2-3 at the same time) and drizzle the exposed cloves with a small amount of olive oil. Wrap the garlic in a piece of kitchen foil (or a few layers of baking paper) and bake for about 30 minutes in a 200° C / 390° F, until the cloves are soft and sticky. Roasted garlic can be smashed and added to salad dressings, it’s great in bechamel-style sauces, even spread on sourdough toast! I love it. MISO: A touch of miso paste adds a great depth of flavour (and some salt too). I like to use white miso (aka shiro miso paste), but red one can be used too. It’s more potent so you may want to use less. NUTRITIONAL YEAST: This staple vegan seasoning adds a hint of cheesiness to this filling, which I like. If you don’t have any on hand, skip and perhaps use a little bit more miso.
500 g / 17.5 oz ripe tomatoes salt 15 ml / 1 tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, finely grated ½ tsp toasted and ground fennel seeds (optional)
FILLING
200 g / 1½ cups cashews, soaked* 45 ml / 3 tbsp lemon juice + zest 1 lemon 1 raw large garlic clove (or ½ head roasted garlic) 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) 2 tsp white miso paste a handful of fresh basil leaves, more to decorate 100 ml / scant ½ cup plant milk 15 ml / 1 tbsp olive oil or more plant milk salt and pepper, to taste
FILLING ASSEMBLY
*SALTING & DRAINING TOMATOES – If using small cherry or plum tomatoes, you may get away without doing this, but if using larger tomatoes this is a must. It will make tomatoes jammy and caramelised once baked instead of watery. *SOAKING CASHEWS – soak untoasted/raw cashews (to soften them) for a few hours (even overnight) in tap water or to speed things up for 30 minutes in boiling water. Drain before using in the recipe.
