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The Best Summer Fresh Tomato Galette

The food processor pastry is a breeze to make. To prevent a soggy crust, heirloom tomatoes are lightly salted to drain out excess moisture. One more barrier is a thin layer of Dijon mustard and Gruyère cheese. Shallots and fresh thyme gives the tomatoes a savory component. While the galette was baking the aroma was intoxicating. It really got my mouth watering! End result: Tender, flaky pastry with no sogginess! Tomatoes are the star of this show, and I can assure you that you will love it as much as we did.
Course Appetizer, main
Cuisine American
Keyword Tomato Galette
Prep Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings 4
Author Debby - www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Equipment

  • Food processor
  • Rimmed Baking Sheet and parchment paper
  • Colanders and/or salad spinner

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 ½ cups 7½ ounces all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons table salt divided
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
  • 6 - 7 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

  • 1 ½ pounds mixed tomatoes cored and sliced ¼ inch thick (I used large heirloom tomatoes)
  • 1 shallot sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 3 ounces Gruyère cheese shredded (¾ cup)
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Egg wash:

  • 1 large egg lightly beaten

For the garnish:

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Instructions

For the dough:

  • Process flour and ½ teaspoon salt in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds.
    Scatter butter over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Transfer to large bowl.
    Sprinkle 6 tablespoons ice water over flour mixture.
    Using a rubber spatula, stir and press dough until it sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough doesn't come together.
    NOTE: Don't get discouraged if the dough seems hard to work with. You don't want a lot of powdered/dry flour, but you want it just moist enough that when you press it together it stick. I ended up using 7 Tablespoons of ice water. The dough will hydrate during the hour it spends in the fridge.
  • Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter, form into 4-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)

Prepare the tomatoes:

  • Toss tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt together in second large bowl. Transfer tomatoes to colander and set colander in sink. Let tomatoes drain for 30 minutes.
  • Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.
    Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the dough:

  • Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter, then transfer to prepared sheet (dough may run up lip of sheet slightly; this is OK).

For the filling:

  • Shake colander well to rid tomatoes of excess juice. NOTE: I used my salad spinner to gently remove excess moisture-- and a LOT came out!
    Combine tomatoes, shallot, oil, thyme, garlic, pepper, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt in now-empty bowl.
    Spread mustard over dough, leaving 1½-inch border.
    Sprinkle Gruyère in even layer over mustard.
    Shingle tomatoes and shallot on top of Gruyère in concentric circles, keeping within 1½-inch border. Sprinkle Parmesan over tomato mixture.
  • Carefully grasp 1 edge of dough and fold up about 1 inch over filling. Repeat around circumference of tart, overlapping dough every 2 inches, gently pinching pleated dough to secure.
    Brush folded dough with egg (you won't need it all).

Bake:

  • Bake until crust is golden brown and tomatoes are bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer sheet to wire rack and let galette cool for 10 minutes. Using metal spatula, loosen galette from parchment and carefully slide onto wire rack; let cool until just warm, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with basil. Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes

If you don't own a food processor, you can mix the pastry with a cutter or just your fingers.
I used my salad spinner to gently remove any additional moisture from the tomatoes.
You could make individual galettes with cherry tomatoes. I'd cut the dough into four rounds and prepare them that way.
RECIPE SOURCE: Cook's Country Magazine August/September 2019