What is the base of the galette?

The website joyofbaking.com defines the term galette as "a French term signifying a flat round cake that can be either sweet or savory and while [recipes can use] puff pastry as a base, they can also be made from risen doughs like brioche, or with a sweet pastry crust."

What does galette mean in cooking?

Galettes refer to the catch-all term for a pastry base, topped with either sweet or savoury fillings with the edges roughly folded in to create a gorgeous, rustic-looking bake .

How do you keep the bottom of galette from getting soggy?

Preventing Soggy Bottoms Because you can't par-bake a galette crust to prevent the fruit's juices from making the crust soggy, many folks brush their galette crust with egg white or make a layer of crushed cookies or cake crumbs , either of which work fine.

What are the ingredients for a galette?

Flour Galette / Main ingredient Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. Wikipedia

What is the charm in the galette?

The Hidden Charm Originally the surprise hidden in the king's cake was also a bean, a broad bean to be specific, fève in French . Towards the end of the 19th century, the bean was replaced by a porcelain figurine, but it is still known as a fève.

Why do French people eat galette?

Well, the tradition of Galette des Rois began some 700 to 800 years ago in France, in the 14 th century. The tradition is to have this cake on the 12 th day of Christmas, i.e., January 6 th . However, it is enjoyed throughout January with friends and family. Galette des Rois is eaten to celebrate the Biblical Epiphany .

Why do the French eat galette?

The French have been serving up galette des rois since the 14th-century. Traditionally, it's served on January 6th – the 12th day of Christmas – to celebrate the Epiphany, a religious feast day commemorating the arrival of the Three Kings to the manger where Jesus was born .

Is a galette crust the same as a pie crust?

A galette, if you're unfamiliar, is a kind of open-faced, freeform pie. The dough for the crust is the same as a traditional pie, but the structure of the dessert is different .

What is the mill of the galette?

The windmill Moulin de la Galette, also known as Blute-fin, was built in 1622 . The name Blute-fin comes from the French verb bluter which means sifting flour for the separation from bran. The Debray family acquired the two mills in 1809 for producing flour, the Blute-fin and the Radet, built in 1717.

What is galette and what is inside the one served on Epiphany?

In any case, the French galette des rois is usually a large, round puff pastry that looks like a pie with a glazed top. Inside is a layer of frangipane, or a sweet almond paste . Down in the southwest of France, king's cake is a brioche bread with sprinkled sugar on top instead of filling.

What is hidden in the galette?

Every galette has a secret – tucked somewhere inside the galette is a prize . In early times, the prize was a dried bean, or fève. Over the centuries, the beans were replaced by all manner of trinkets, usually made of porcelain, but they've never stopped being called fèves.

Slab Galette with Swiss Chard and Gruyère Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Serves a Crowd

by: Alexandra Stafford

May20,2021

4.3

19 Ratings

Slab Galette with Swiss Chard and Gruyère Recipe on Food52 (1)

Prep time 2 hours 15 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Makes 24 slices

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

This time of year, if you garden or subscribe to a CSA, chances are you have a few bundles of Swiss chard monopolizing your fridge. This slab galette, which could feed over 20 people as a first course, is a great way to put those bundles to use. The dough, a David Lebovitz recipe, is one of my favorites, flaky and buttery with a nice crunch thanks to the addition of cornmeal. Feel free to use the filling as a guide — thinly sliced tomatoes or other sautéed vegetables would be nice additions. The key, however, is to go light — a thin layer of whatever filling you choose is best. Also, the recipe can be easily halved and made into a more traditionally-shaped free-form galette.

UPDATE: After many issues raised in the comments regarding dough-making trouble, I have adjusted the recipe to say 4 to 8 tablespoons of ice water. Start with 4 tablespoons, and add water by the tablespoon as needed. —Alexandra Stafford

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Galette
2 tablespoonsolive oil
1 large white onion
Salt to taste
2 cloves garlic
Pinchcrushed red pepper flakes
2 bunchesSwiss chard, stems removed (about 500 grams, post-stemming)
1 Cornmeal Galette Dough
1 cupfresh ricotta
1 cupgrated Gruyère or Comté
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoonmilk or cream

Cornmeal pastry dough
2 ¹/₂ cups(320 g) all-purpose flour
²/₃ cup(102 g) yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoonssugar
2 ¹/₂ teaspoonskosher salt
12 tablespoonsunsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
6 tablespoonsolive oil
4 to 8 tablespoonsice water

Directions

Galette
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan or soup pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Pile the chard on top, cover the pan if you are able, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the leaves begin to wilt. Uncover the pan, use tongs to rearrange the leaves and continue cooking the chard until any liquid evaporates. Taste. This is your chance to season the chard, so add more salt if necessary.
Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat the oven to 375° F. Line a jelly roll pan with with kitchen parchment paper.
Roll the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle, about 15- x 21-inches or about an inch or two bigger in length and width than your sheet pan. Flip the dough every so often to ensure it’s not sticking. If it is, dust the surface with more flour. Loosely fold the dough in half and half again and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Unfold the dough and center it to your pan.
Spread a thin layer of ricotta on the bottom of the dough, leaving a two-inch border all the way around. Spread the onion and chard mixture over top in a thin, even layer. Sprinkle the grated cheese over top. Fold the edges of the dough inward over the filling. Pinch together any tears in the dough. Mix together the egg yolk and milk and brush it over the exposed crust.
Bake until the crust has browned and the cheese has melted, 35 to 45 minutes. Slide the galette off the parchment and onto a cooling rack or cutting board. Let cool for 10 minutes. Cut the galette into 24 pieces. Serve.

Cornmeal pastry dough
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt until blended. Add the chilled butter to the bowl and pulse until it is evenly distributed but still in large, visible pieces. Add the olive oil and pulse a few times. Add 4 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until the dough begins to come together, adding water by the tablespoon as needed.) Dump dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Roughly shape the dough into a rectangle. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Alternatively, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter using the back of a fork or pastry cutter. Add olive oil and 4 tablespoons of the ice water and mix until dough just comes together, adding ice water as needed.)

Tags:

Pie
Galette
American
Vegetable
Milk/Cream
Cornmeal
Serves a Crowd
Sheet Pan
Summer
Winter
Spring
Fall

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Nancy MacKimm
Nancy Pollock Cole
Jennifer Uzumcu
Alexandra Stafford

Recipe by: Alexandra Stafford

alexandracooks.com

I write the blog alexandra's kitchen, a place for mostly simple, sometimes fussy, and always seasonal recipes. My cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs is available everywhere books are sold.

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74 Reviews

Wavey January 26, 2020

I thought I was a bit of a pastry hero, but this crust is very humbling. I ended up having to cut it into pieces to fit it into the pan. Managed not to cry and the final product is entirely delicious. My son said it was the best thing he'd even in ages. It looks nice too. I will make it again and just persevere with the crust and use even more water, I guess.
For the record I used weight measurements. And desperately wish the butter was also by weight as I don't buy sticks.

Larisa November 30, 2019

I made this galette for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely delicious it was gone until even we start our feast😂 my daughter taught me one trick to roll my dough between two parchment papers, you don’t need no flour when you done just remove top paper and transfer your dough on baking sheet, and before you put your filling I put my dough for 10 minutes in refrigerator, ty for lovely recipe and yes I put 8tbsp. Ice water.

Nancy P. November 10, 2019

The dough was really, really hard to work with. It kept cracking when rolling. There was no way to fold it to transfer to the sheet pan. I ended up wrapping it around my rolling pin to transfer but it fell to pieces. Finally got it in the pan very much pieced together! The good news - it's a delicious galette! I'll use another dough next time.

judy November 9, 2019

I opted out of making the dough, after reading reviews. Instead I bought pizza dough ready made and sprinkled it with cornmeal and some granulated garlic. followed the recipe for the chard exactly. Baked up beautifully, and was seriously delicious for lunch and dinner an some for breakfast the third day. I am in a small makeshift apartment with a kitchenette, so struggling iwht the dough was more than I wanted to do, but I really wanted to try this recipe. I am so glad that I did. Thanks

Shirlee August 30, 2021

This is what I plan to do on a second try. The filling, ricotta, and gruyere combination was delicious, and I know I would have enjoyed it more on a traditional pizza crust (maybe whole wheat dough actually). It will be healthier and cheaper. I actually thought "galette" was more like a cracker-ish pizza, and was super disappointed as I started making it that it was like a shortbread, and was much too rich and dry for this filling. Waste of a LOT of butter imho, but that's on me by not reading the recipe before getting started.

caarin June 3, 2019

I made this for a backyard bbq -absolutely delicious. I wasn’t sure what type of cornmeal to buy (fine or coarse ground) so I opted for a different crust. I used more ricotta and gruyere than the recipe called for. So glad there was a piece left for breakfast this morning!

Alexandra S. June 3, 2019

So happy to hear this Caarin!

caarin June 3, 2019

Made this for a backyard bbq - it was a hit! Really delicious. I chickened out of making the dough because I didn’t know what type of cornmeal to buy - so I went with a different crust recipe. I used more ricotta and more gruyere than he recipe called for. So glad there was a piece leftover for breakfast today!

Barbara A. December 22, 2017

This was a star recipe although the dough is so dry it is difficult to work with. But the result was that everyone really loved it. Perhaps re-do the dough recipe as I notice others had the same issue.

Kitspy November 14, 2017

Halved the recipe and made this using kale and mixed mushrooms. It was supposed to be for a party, but the party was cancelled at the last minute, so we just had it for dinner instead and had some leftovers. Made it on Saturday and I'm eating cold leftovers for lunch on Tuesday - still delicious! I didn't have much trouble with the dough. It was a little crumbly and tricky to shape into a disk using 4 T of water, but I persevered, and it turned out great.

Alexandra S. November 14, 2017

So happy to hear this, Kitspy! Kale and mushrooms sounds delicious. Must try.

Gail B. September 8, 2017

I had the same problem the first time I made this recipe - I had forgotten to put in the oil. I did have to play around with the pastry recipe a bit after (see my comments below), but you could also use your favourite galette dough recipe and then follow the rest of this recipe. I always get raves when I bring this to a party. Well worth the effort.

Karen September 8, 2017

Very disappointed. Made the dough as directed and it was so hard from the refrigerator, had to break it up and knead it to be able to roll it out. Never managed to roll it into a rectangle and ended up putting it in pieces in the cookie sheet and then rolling it. Not as flavorful as I would have expected. Won't make again.

Alexandra S. September 8, 2017

Sorry to hear this Karen. This dough is a little tricky. For whatever reason, a half recipe of the dough comes out much better/more easily. It's really one of my favorites when it comes out — the original recipe was for a summer galette with leeks, tomatoes, corn and gruyere, and it is one of my favorite summer recipes. Sorry this didn't work out for you.

Gail B. May 5, 2017

I have made this recipe several times. The first time I forgot to add the olive oil. The crust was a little stiff and hard to manage, but tasted delicious. The next time I put in all of the olive oil and found the dough far too soft to handle well. Now I cut the olive oil in half, and am very stingy with the water. I make two smaller tarts and put one (fully assembled) in the freezer. The trick to freezing the tart is to take it straight from the freezer to the hot oven. (My mother taught me this trick) That way the dough doesn't become soft and watery from the thawing contents. I am trying it tonight with kale.

Alexandra S. May 8, 2017

Thanks so much for your troubleshooting tips here, Gail! The dough has proved problematic for some, so thank you for sharing your adjustments. LOVE the freezer-to-oven tip ... thanks!

Emilie December 15, 2016

I made this for a dinner with friends and it turned out great! It did not turn out as large as mentioned in the author notes, but easily fed 4 of us with a salad.

Alexandra S. May 8, 2017

Nice! So happy to hear this, Emilie.