two galettes walk into a bar
is summer over or not????
Can someone tell me if summer is actually over? Actually, wait. No one tell me. I don’t want to know. Some people are talking about pumpkins, and other people are saying good tomatoes are just finally showing up at the farmers market. I’m getting mixed messages here!
Not to brag, but as you may know, I’ve been eating really good tomatoes for a while now because I was living on a farm where we were (are) growing really good tomatoes. We were (are) also, as you know, growing and picking lots of blackberries. So this week, you’re getting a recipe for two (2) galettes. A tomato one and a blackberry one. But first! Here are three important things that have happened to me recently:
I saw a shooting star! It was the first shooting star I’ve ever seen. It was a really big deal for me, and I made a really big wish, and I’m just superstitious enough to know that I can’t tell you what that wish was or it won’t come true. But trust me, it’s a good one. I’ve always wanted to see a shooting star, and I’ve lied about seeing one an embarrassing amount of times. Every time I’ve gone camping (which is more times than you would think!), everyone else is always like, “Oh, look! A shooting star!” and I’m always like, “Woah! Yeah! Cool!” but I never actually see it. I don’t know if my eyes don’t adjust fast enough or if I’m literally just an idiot, but I always miss them. So when I finally saw one a couple of weeks ago (it was part of the Perseid meteor shower), I really yelled, and I couldn’t stop smiling. It was HUGE. Honestly, way bigger than I expected it to be. If you haven’t seen one, I hope you get to see one sometime. It’s pretty cool.
I’ve been listening to this song on repeat. I was walking outside to go pick some blackberries, and it was on my Discover Weekly playlist, and I’d never heard it before, and I can’t get it out of my head. It made me want to dance and sing along out loud, which I almost never do—I feel like that seems like a thing I would do, I just usually don’t. And, well, after the third repeat listen, when I felt like I’d gotten the lyrics down enough, I did it. On the farm in the sun, I dropped my little blackberry basket and jumped and sang, and I don’t want to be dramatic, but it was one of the best feelings I’ve felt in a long time. Then, forty minutes later, on my 10th listen, I was on my hands and knees picking berries, and I pulled aside a big thorny branch and found a literal wall of blackberries, and it made me so emotional I cried a little. I don’t really know what it all means but, obviously, we (I) should all be dancing and singing more.
We threw a brunch! We raised a bunch of money and ate some really good food, and the next several newsletters will probably be about recipes we made on the farm because it was so good!!!! So take a look!
And now that that’s out of the way, on to the galettes!
a quick note on crust
Here’s the thing—you can totally do this with store-bought crust. Pillsbury makes a genuinely wonderful, flaky, delicious, buttery pie crust. They even come in a two-pack! If you do use store-bought crust, you’ll need to roll it out a bit more than it is when you unroll it, but other than that, you should be set to go.
I used this Alison Roman recipe for my crust. It’s easy and it’s very good, and I 1. think most people have a pie crust recipe they love and trust, and 2. I don’t have anything to add to the world of pie crust that hasn’t already been done. So, use your favorite crust recipe or your favorite store-bought variety.
The important thing is that you bake the galette according to the crust’s instructions (this one is 375 for 50-60 minutes). Oh, and also that you have fun. That’s also important!
galette ingredients
tomato galette:
1 pie crust of your choice
1 lb (2-3 medium-ish) heirloom tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 pint sungold tomatoes, sliced
Let me say this about tomatoes! Use whatever the best tomatoes are that you can find—I loved this mixture of size and color, but do whatever is freshest and best wherever you are
1 shallot, thinly slicked
1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs, roughly chopped (I used thyme and rosemary), reserve some for garnish
1 lemon, zest and juice
1.5 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp kosher salt
lots of fresh ground black pepper
a big pinch of red pepper flakes (optional!)
1/4 cup fresh parm (also optional!)
1 egg, beaten
blackberry orange basil galette (with brie!)
1 pie crust of your choice
1 lb (3 cups? idk) fresh blackberries
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade (thinly sliced), plus more for garnish
1 orange, zest and juice
1.5 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
1 to 2 tbsps demerara sugar/sugar in the raw (optional!)
5 oz brie cheese (basically one decently sized wedge)
galette method
This is if you’re doing both—obviously, you can do one or the other or none, but I think you should do at least one.
Preheat your oven according to the instructions for your pie crust, and prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. Make sure if you’re making two at once that there are two racks in your oven as close to the center as possible but, leaving room for each tray.
Prepare your fillings.
For the tomato, slice tomatoes, herbs, shallot, and mix in a large bowl with the zest and juice of the lemon, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using).
For the blackberry, mix berries, zest, and juice of the orange, basil, sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
Roll out or unroll your pie dough into a 12-inch round and place one on the center of each parchment-lined baking sheet.
For the tomato galette, arrange the tomatoes in whatever way you like in the center of the dough, leaving at least a two-inch border. Fold the border up, wrapping the outermost parts of the tomatoes, brush the dough with egg, and finish with the parmesan and more black pepper.
For the blackberry galette, pile the blackberry mixture into the center of the galette, leaving a two-inch border. Fold up the border, wrapping the outmost parts of the blackberries, brush the dough with egg, and finish with a sprinkling of the demerara sugar.
Bake according to the dough instructions, probably 50 minutes, but maybe more! If doing both at once, rotate galettes halfway through baking, so both have an opportunity to be closest to the heat.
Once done, garnish the tomato with remaining herbs and a showering of parm if you want (you want). Tear the brie and dot the blackberry galette with it, along with some reserved basil. You don’t need to wait for them to cool to do the cheese. It’s nice when it melts!
If your galettes spring a leak, that’s ok! If they don’t, you’re blessed and highly favored! If they look a little wet or blonde, let them bake a while longer. More done is better, just keep an eye on it.
Let them cool for like 20 minutes, or don’t up to you! My friends ate them basically right away because we have no patience, but if you’ve got it, now’s the time to exercise it.
Alright, now go find a shooting star and dance in the sun, it’s summer! (or is it??????)
xoxo,
Garrett