Have you made a galette before? If not, you’re missing out!

A galette is what the French call a flat round or freeform cake made with pastry dough or bread. The term galette comes from the Norman word gale which literally means “flat cake”. There are so many different types of galettes out there, and the filling can be sweet or savory. One of the most famous variations is the galette des Rois (“king cake”) which is a cake made up of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense frangipane or apple center usually eaten on the day of Epiphany.

One of the most common and easy galettes to make, however, is a single crust, free-form pie with the crust folded on top of the filling, and that’s the type of galette we’re going to be making today.

Why Galettes are the Perfectly Satisfying, no-fuss Meal

1. They’re super easy to put together. You just make the dough and a filling of choice.

2. They’re very flexible. Not in the sense that the dough is flexible (even though it is!), but in the sense that the whole process is very forgiving. Any filling will do, so you can make whatever combination you want, as long as it’s not super liquid since it does have to stay put. There’s also no pressure to make a “perfectly shaped” galette because there is no such thing! Galettes are rustic and are meant to be unique. Just as long as you fold the dough over the filling, you’ve got yourself a galette. Voilà!

 

 

Vegan Galette Crust

Galette crust is similar to tart crust, so the dough-making process is very similar. It’s imporant to not overwork it, mix the ingredients together until just combined. Then let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but prefereably 1.5-2 hours to give it enough time to absorb the liquid so then it’ll be a lot easier to stretch the dough out without it cracking. If it does crack, however, don’t worry! You can gently patch it together with your fingers. One last thing—when you take the dough out of the fridge and start stretching it, act quickly because if it’s left outside for too long and comes in contact with your warm fingers, the fat will start to melt and the dough will become too soft for you to shape properly.

 

 

Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion and Olive Galette

Serves 4

CRUST

140 g whole wheat flour

60 g all-purpose flour

pinch of dried basil (optional)

6 g sea salt

90 g vegan butter (we used Earth Balance)

2 g arrowroot or cornstarch

40-70 ml ice water, as needed

FILLING

extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking

3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

pinch sea salt

50 ml red wine

1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved

basil powder, to garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Add flour, dried basil (if using), salt, and arrowroot or corn starch to a medium bowl. Cut in the vegan butter and mix with your hands until you get a “wet sand” texture.

2. Slowly add water to the mixture (starting with 40ml) while continuing to incorporate it all with your hands until a ball forms, adding more water if needed (up to 70ml). Tip it out onto a floured surface and, with a rolling pin, roll out into a square about 1” thick.

3. Carefully wrap the dough with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Transfer to the fridge and let rest for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.

4. Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat a medium pan over medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil, onions, and sea salt. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden and caramelized. If you want to leave them and do something else in the meantime, turn the heat to low and stir every 5-7 minutes. This will take longer (about 40 minutes) but the onions will caramelize nice and slowly. Either method is fine.

5. Once onions are caramelized, deglaze the pan by adding red wine. Once half of it has reduced, remove from heat. Onions should be nice and glossy. Add half of the olives and mix into the onions.

6. Assemble your galette. Preheat oven to 350° F/ 180° C. Remove dough from fridge, unwrap it and, with the rolling pin, stretch into desired shape and thickness (about 1/2” is good). Add filling to the center of the dough and spread it out evenly, leaving about 2” between the edge and the filling. Carefully fold the edges of the dough over the filling all around the galette. If your dough cracks don’t worry, you can patch it up with other sections of dough or by gently pressing the cracked section to mold the dough back together again.

7. Bake galette in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Rotate halfway, after 15 minutes.

What are your favorite galette fillings? Let us know in the comments below!