Tomato Galette with Fresh Basil and Feta

I may have mentioned that I've been trying to start a mini garden in my backyard. While my rhubarb is growing new stalks everyday (taunting me because you can't harvest them in the first year), my tomato plants have grown only a few tomatoes and only one has ripened. That's right. One. While someone I know has so many tomatoes, he doesn't even know what to do with them all and keeps sending them to me. I am feeling a little bit like a failure gardener right now. I've been trying to troubleshoot why nothing is working out for me (did I mention both my lavender plants and my coriander suddenly died for no apparent reason and it looks like my pumpkin was yanked out of the ground?), but I guess I just don't have that green thumb. Le sigh. 

The other day, I was presented with a huge basket of just ripened tomatoes (insert frustrated grumbles here) as well as a bushel of fresh basil and lemon balm and I had no idea how I was going to use all of it. I then realized I just bought feta cheese and more flour, so a galette it was!

This galette has a delicious garlic crust and tomato/basil/feta combination reminds me of a very fancy pizza, which in a way, is what a tomato galette is.

I love my galettes piled high with filling to the point where it is difficult for the dough to stay in place, so I used about 6 tomatoes, but please feel free to use less. Because of all the tomatoes, you might want to consider using tomatoes that are not fully ripened or too juicy as you may end up with a mini tomato lake in the bottom of your crust. If you find that you still end up with a a wet-bottomed crust (surely there is a technical name for this that I do not know about), you can cover the top of the galette with foil and bake at 450 for 10 - 12 minutes which will help get rid of some of the liquid and make your crust nice and crispy again.

Tomato Galette with Fresh Basil and Feta

Amanda Powell

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Ingredients

  

For the Dough

• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut in cubes and chilled
• 1 egg
• 1 - 2 teaspoons ice water

For the Tomato Filling

• 5 - 6 medium tomatoes
• 12 - 15 fresh basil leaves
• 3 oz feta
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic.
• ¼ teaspoon oregano

Instructions

 

For the Dough

• In a food processor, add the flour, and salt and pulse to combine. Slowly add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing between each addition of butter. In a small bowl whisk the egg, then add the egg to the flour and pulse until just combined. Slowly add the ice water 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough forms. Be careful to not overwork the dough.
• Bring the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll into a ball, wrap in plastic and flatten. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

For the Tomato Filling

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Slice the tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Wash and dry the basil leaves - you can leave them whole or gently rip them in smaller pieces with your hands - do not use your knife to cut them! Break up the feta into small and medium-sized crumbles. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set everything aside.

Assembly and Cooking

• Take out the dough and flatten until slightly over ¼ inch thick. Don't worry too much about the exact shape or edges - it is not supposed to be perfect. It should be around 12 inches in diameter.
• Layer the tomatoes, basil and feta in the middle the the dough, leaving a 1 ½ inch border. Fold over the border over the tomatoes. Brush with extra virgin olive oil mixed with the minced garlic and oregano.
• Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

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