Do you happen to know that one second of cooking or baking hubris when all the stars align and everything goes juuuust right, to quote Goldilocks?
Oh, how the mighty have fallen...
I stood in my small German kitchen beaming at my Tomato, Zucchini & Ricotta Galette that was about to go in the oven, and felt on top of the world. After not having made anything I felt was up to gather & be standards for about a month, it was an amazing feeling!
Vacation time with three kids at home is not for the faint of heart. When you add in a transatlantic move, a fresh start in a new city and living out of boxes for weeks, you’ve got a recipe for a LOT of pasta. And not even the fancy kind.
So when I mustered the motivation to whip up a lovely rustic galette, (a sort of open pie), I was feeling good about myself.
There I was with my filling perfected, my dough rolled out and crimped beautifully, when it hit me. I hadn’t placed any parchment paper underneath the galette. Oh, man… Cue the swearing. And me with a highly red face trying desperately to maneuver three spatulas at once under the galette in an effort to transfer it to a baking sheet without the whole fairly heavy thing falling apart. And my three year old refusing to help me because she had a bit of dough and a few tomatoes and was too busy perfecting a galette of her own. I guess she was in the zone...
Well, I managed. Barely, but the galette and I made it! After 25 minutes in the oven I was greeted by a delicious flaky crust with a creamy, zesty filling topped with glorious summer tomatoes, zucchinis snd some fresh mozzarella.
My daughter’s mini galette came out of the oven just as wonky as mine. But as we sat down to our delicious al fresco lunch, I realized that letting go of perfection is not the worst thing in world and I should probably try it a little more often.
xoxo Donata
Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups (160g) All purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons, 113g) cold unsalted butter
5 to 6 tablespoons cold water
Filling
1 large (340 to 397g) zucchini, sliced into 1/4" (1/2 cm) thick disks
1-1/2 cups (300 g) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or oregano mixed with 1/2 tbsp salt
1 cup (250 g) ricotta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, optional
1 large egg
3 tbsp chopped chives
4-1/2 oz. (125 g) cubed mozzarella (fresh if you can get it!)
Egg wash
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
To make the crust: Whisk together the dry ingredients. Work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Drizzle in 5 tablespoons of water, stirring gently until everything is evenly moistened; add the final tablespoon of water if necessary to make a cohesive dough.
Pat the dough into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the zucchini slices on one pan and sprinkle liberally with the Italian seasoning/salt mixture.
Place the tomato halves on the second pan and repeat.
Roast the zucchini and tomatoes until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes for the zucchini and 10 to 15 minutes for the tomatoes.
Remove the zucchini and tomatoes from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Combine the ricotta, pepper, lemon zest, the remaining Italian seasoning, chopped chives and egg until evenly blended. Set aside.
To assemble the galette: On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a 12" (30 cm) circle. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Do not skip this step! 😆
Spread the ricotta mixture over the dough, leaving a 2" (5 cm) wide bare strip along the perimeter.
Shingle the zucchini slices over the cheese and scatter the tomato halves on top.
Fold the bare edges of the dough into the center.
Brush the exposed edges of the crust with egg wash, and sprinkle the mozzarella over the center of the galette.
Bake the galette for 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Remove the galette from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Based on a King Arthur Flour recipe that can be found here:
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