I have always wanted to make a galette, that free form rustic tart made of pastry and filled with fruit or other vegetables.  It can be another great sustainable way to make something interesting from leftover vegetables that you may have or perhaps to use fruit you have in the crisper.

Here I have used baked vegetables that I had made from this recipe and four rhubarb stalks, half an apple and a couple of whole Australian walnuts left from Christmas.

A little effort and some practice, (as you can see my fruit galette is a little better executed) and you have two delicious galettes, one savoury and one sweet.

The shortcrust pastry is crunchy and the slow caramelised onions add depth to the flavour of the roasted vegetables in the savoury galette. The walnuts add a little crunch to the sweet galette and the spiced rhubarb and apple work well with the orange zest and the sugar adds crispness to the pastry.

Galettes are easy and and definitiely worth making.

Savoury and Sweet Galettes

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 2 cups Plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 85 g butter
• 9 Tblsp chilled water

Fillings:

Roast Vegetable:

• 1 1/2 cups roasted vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, cherry tomato, capsicum)
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 2 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Small knob of butter
• 5 kalamata olives, pitted and quarted
• 1 sprig of fresh Rosemary leaves
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated coarsly
• 1 tsp nigella seeds, (or sesame or poppy seeds as preferred)
• Olive oil spray

Rhubarb, Apple and Walnut:

• 4 sticks of rhubarb, chopped into 2.5cm pieces
• 1/2 Apple, cut into quarters then chopped into small pieces
• 1/4 cup of Caster sugar
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, extra for decoration
• 2 Tblsp walnuts, chopped into small pieces
• 1 1/2 Tblsp brown sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180º C Fan Forced

Pastry:

1. Using a food processor with chopping blade attached, place 2 cups of plain flour and 1/4 tsp of salt into the utility bowl, secure and process for 5 seconds
2. Add butter and process for 10 seconds
3. Add chilled water through feed tube and process in bursts until the dough forms into a ball
4. Wrap dough in cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
5. Now prepare and cook the fruit

Rhubarb and Apple Filling:

1. Place the chopped rhubarb, apple, cinnamon, orange and zest into a bowl
2. Scatter the Caster sugar over the fruit and mix
3. Place the fruit mixture into an oven proof dish
4. Pour over the orange juice and 1/4 cup of water
5. Place into the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes until the fruit is softened, adding extra liquid if required to prevent the sugar from burning
6. When fully cooked the mixture should be moist but free of liquid
7. Remove the fruit from the oven, leaving aside any juices that may remain and place onto a plate and set aside to cool
8. When cold scatter the walnuts over the fruit

Baked Vegetable Filling:

1. Chop baked vegetables into small chunks and set aside in a bowl
2. Cut the onion in half and slice the halves lengthwise into thin strips
3. In a saucepan over a medium low heat, add Extra Virgin Olive oil and knob of butter and heat until the butter foams
4. Add the onion slices and cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes
5. Continue cooking until well caramelised and soft. Check from time to time to make sure the onions do not catch
6. When cooked, set aside to cool

Assembling the galettes:

1. Preheat oven to 200º C Fan Forced
2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and divide into two balls. Return one to the fridge while rolling out the other
3. Place a piece of baking paper onto a board
4. Roll the pastry onto a ball
5. Place onto the baking paper and using a floured rolling pin, and rotating the pastry as you work, roll it out until it is about 4-5mm thick, keeping the edge intact
6. Remove the other pastry from the fridge and repeat the process for the other circle of pastry
7. Prick the pastry circles all over being careful not to pierce the pastry all the way through
8. Leave about 4-5 cms of the outer edge free and sprinkle the inner circle of pastry with the grated cheddar cheese
9. Then cover this with the caramelised onion
10. Heap over the roast vegetables on one disc of pastry and then season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over with rosemary leaves
11. Fold the pastry edge over making folds to gather the pastry over the vegetables
12. Spray the vegetable with a little olive oil spray
13. Brush the pastry edge with milk and sprinkle with nigella seeds (or sesame or poppy seeds if preferred)
14. Now make up the fruit galette
15. Leaving the outer 4-5 cm pastry edge free, scatter the brown sugar over the centre of the pastry circle
16. Place the prepared rhubarb, apple and walnut mixture into the centre of the pastry circle, leaving the outer 4-5 cm free
17.  Fold the pastry edge over making folds to gather the pastry over the fruit
18. Brush the pastry edge with milk and sprinkle the folded edge evenly with granulated white sugar
19. Sprinkle cinnamon lightly over the whole galette
20. Remove by lifting the baking paper with the galette onto a baking tray
21. Place the trays into the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes
22. Then lower the temperature to 180º C and cook for 20 minutes or until  browned
23. When well browned remove the galettes to a cooling rack for 5 minutes to rest
24. The galettes are delicious hot or cold
25. Serve the roast vegetable galette with a garden salad of your favourite summer vegetables
26. Serve the rhubarb, apple and walnut galette with ice cream or a dollop of double cream or just on its own with your favourite tea or coffee