Tomato Galette (aka Fancy Pizza)

Making this tomato galette was dramatic.

It starts out seeming soooo easy… with the easiest dough I have ever made, then just slicing some cheese and tomatoes, folding it up into a little packet and tossing it into the oven. It bakes for 40 minutes at 350 degrees and when it comes out of the oven it is golden brown and the cheese is gorgeous and melty.

However, when the galette is in the oven the water from the cheese and tomatoes bubbles over the crust and leaks out at the seams and it looks like there is something going horribly wrong until all the water magically dries up and the galette has a perfectly crisp crust. I’m warning you now so that you don’t spend your night having a floor party, otherwise known as laying on the floor so you can both watch the Olympics and your tomato galette.

If you are afraid of making pie never fear this is the world’s EASIEST crust! Really, you can’t mess this up. You grate the butter so there is no chance of overworking the dough and it comes together in about 5 minutes. Best of all, galettes are freeform pies so if you are not artistic never fear, galettes are meant to be rustic!

(Are you seeing how flakey that crust is?? I don’t think this picture does it justice but it’s the best I have with my beginning photo skills)

Also my boyfriend said this is the best bread, cheese, tomato combo he has ever had! He is a law school student who eats a TON of pizza and went to college around Chicago sooo you should trust his opinion and try this.

Recipe

Crust

**This recipe makes two crusts. When I tried halving it, the recipe didn’t work but pie dough freezes beautifully so just toss the other half into the freezer and save it for another time. Just allow it to come to temperature in your fridge over night before using the frozen dough.

2 sticks of frozen butter

2 cups cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup of corn meal

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs granulated sugar

1/2- 3/4 cups of ice cold water

Filling

6-8 oz of mozzarella- I used fresh but you can certainly use pre-shredded and that will also cut down on the moisture in the filling

2-3 large ripe tomatoes if you like the larger, overlapped tomatoes look but you can also use halved cherry tomatoes as they usually have a brighter flavor

Optional-I also sprinkled my crust with oregano, garlic salt, and basil after brushing the egg wash on the crust

2 tbs parmesan cheese

1-2 tsp of salt

egg wash

1 egg yolk

2 tbs of water

1. Slice your tomatoes and lay them on either a paper towel or cloth towel and salt them. This helps to draw out some of the liquid in the tomatoes.

2. Start making the crust. Begin by mixing all of the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl and then use a grater to grate your frozen butter into the dry ingredients. This gives you nice pieces of frozen butter in your dough so that your dough will come out fabulous and flakey!

3. Slowly add your cold water into the dough starting with 1/2 a cup. If the dough is still dry and won’t come together into a ball, add more water 1 tbs at a time up to 3/4 of a cup.

4. Divide the dough into two disks and throw one in the freezer and the other in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up before you roll out your dough. Resting your dough will help to keep gluten from building up which also helps to keep the dough flakey.

5.  While the dough is resting in the fridge preheat your oven to 350 and slice your cheese! If using fresh mozzarella pat it dry to cut down on the moisture before putting it into the galette.

6. Roll out your galette, I rolled mine roughly into a circle about 10 inches in diameter, and then make a layer of cheese leaving a 1-1 1/2 inch border around the edge. Pat your tomatoes dry and then lay them over the cheese, I did over lapping slices but they could be arranged in any number of ways. Then fold up the edge of the dough over the filling and crimp the edges to reduce leakage.

7. Beat the egg yolk with the water and brush the crust with the wash to give it a beautiful color and produce a crunchy crust.

8. Sprinkle any seasonings along with the parmesan cheese over the entire galette including the crust. This just gives it a little extra something.

9. Put the galette back into the fridge for 10 minutes and then into the oven for 40 minutes. If it still looks wet after 40 minutes give it another 10-20 minutes checking back every 5 minutes since every oven is different and all cheeses and tomatoes have different moisture content.

10. Allow the galette to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and then enjoy! It is also delicious cold the next day.

I love galettes because they are easy as pie! (get it? get it? I’ve been trying to think of a food pun ever since I started this blog)

Have you tried making a galette before?

What are your favorite fillings?