Savory Galette Dough
I love a savory galette. This buttery, slightly salty crust is the perfect vehicle for veggies, cheese and herbs. Galettes make impressive centerpieces to a table and are quite easy to split between dinner guests. This dough is like a low-maintenance pie dough- tons of flake but none of the fuss. I like using this recipe for a Tomato, Leek and Cheddar Galette, but I encourage you to try out your own fillings.
Ingredients, makes 1 dough, serves 2-4
100 g butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, cold
3/4 teaspoons (4 g) salt
120 g whole wheat flour
80 g all purpose flour
7 tablespoons ice water (plus more as needed)
All purpose flour, for dusting and rolling
One egg, whisked (optional)
Instructions
Whisk dry ingredients (flours and salt) together in a medium sized bowl.
Add cubed butter to bowl, making sure to coat each cube with flour.
Begin to press the cubes between your fingers to flatten and break them apart. Continue to toss them in the dry mixture, breaking up bigger chunks of butter. Stop when the biggest chunk is roughly the size of a pea.
Adding one tablespoon at a time, begin to mix in the water with a fork. When the dough holds together when squeezed, you’ve added enough water. If certain parts are dryer than others, leave those crumbly bits in the bowl, removing the hydrated dough and placing it on your work surface. Add water to the dry portion in the bowl until it comes together.
Dump the combined dough on your work surface and shape it into a rough square, about 1/2 inches tall. Wrap in plastic, parchment, or beeswax wrap and leave in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.
Remove the dough after it has rested and let it sit at room temperature for about five minutes to warm up. Using your rolling pin, begin to roll out the dough into a rough rectangle with the length about three times longer than the width. Dust your work surface with flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. Perform a “letter fold,” folding the bottom third up over the middle third, and then folding the top third over the other two (I learned this trick from Claire Saffitz- it’s a great way to get flaky layers). Wrap again and rest for at least 25 more minutes (you can leave it over night and do its final shape and bake the next day if preferrable).
Remove from the fridge to roll and shape. Its final shape does not need to be a perfect circle! Continue rolling until it is roughly 12 inches diameter and 1/8 inches thick.
Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.
At this point, place the galette dough on a piece of parchment paper and place that parchment on a baking sheet. Now you are free to fill the dough with whatever fillings you have prepared. Just make sure to leave a border that is around 1 inch.
You can use your hands or the parchment to fold the dough over your fillings- it’s up to you! Just make sure to apply enough pressure to seal the creases so the dough does not open up when baked.
If you wish to add eggwash to the crust, brush the whisked egg onto the galette crust. Place filled and shaped galette in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove the galette from the freezer and place it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate and bake for another 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (times may vary slightly based on fillings).
Enjoy!
*If you do not have whole wheat pastry flour, you can make a substitute half all-purpose (100 g) and half whole wheat (100 g).