January 23

2020 took a few preparations to an iconic level - dalgona coffee, babka, focaccia bread, popscicles, yoghurt cups, galette and many more such dishes which was erstwhile limited to the kitchens of specific regions, now was being made across the households globally, especially India. Homechefs brought restaurant home. I was always late to jump on the bandwagon of the food trends and thus I think when I am posting this galette recipe, half of the globe is already far more expert in making the same. Nonetheless still I feel like sharing this with you as its not the usual sweet filling galette, but a savory one.

Galette is a flat round cake of pastry often topped with fruit. Pie and Galette are both  baked desserts, wrapped in crust and filled with sweetness. A pie is a sweet or savory dish with a crust and a filling. Now, the term galette is used primarily to refer to rather rustic, free-form tarts-made with a single crust of pastry or bread dough, like a pizza and filled with fruit that is baked on a baking sheet. Galettes usually offer a better ratio of crust to filling than pie. Galette are probably the happy go lucky French cousin of the American pie. 

The trend for 2020 has been all about sweet filled galettes like - blueberry, apple etc. But with a savoury filling inside the galettes can also be had for a light supper dish. Since I am not much of a sweet lover, so when I wanted to make a galette it had to be a savory one. The one I made was with chicken and seasonal vegetables like corn and broccoli. If you want to make a vegetarian version of it, just skip the chicken and rest remains same. You can even substitute chicken with things like Paneer or more vegetables. Filling options for savory galettes are just about endless.

Personally I liked a galette better than the pizza, because its so flaky, buttery, smooth in texture and with much more filling inside to enjoy than a standard pizza. I am a filling loving person, so I don't like to go frugal with the filling. Hence a galette is always a good choice. Check out the recipe below, I am sure this would be a welcome change to all the pizza lovers.

• Chicken breast -  2
• Garlic Clove - 4-5 , thinly sliced
• Large Onion - 1/2 , diced
• Broccoli heads - 3/4 cup
• Sweet Corn Kernels - 3/4 cup
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp + as needed
• Butter - 1/2 tsp
• Cheese ( of your choice) - 1/2 cup + a little amount for grating on top
• Fresh Rosemary Sprig- 3 to 4
• Fresh Thyme Sprig - 3 to 4

For Brushing & Garnish

• Fresh Cream - 3-4 Tbsp
• Roasted white sesame - 2 tsp or as needed ( dry roast the sesame on a skillet till fragrant)

Equipment:

• Mixing Bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Rolling Pin and worktop
• Skillet & Spatula
• Oven
• Baking dish
• Parchment paper

Procedure 

Making the Pastry

Remember for pastry everything needs to be super COLD!

1.  Start with the pastry first, preferably the day before you plan to make the galette. Measure the wheat, flour and salt, sift in and mix them. Then stow them in the freezer/ refrigerator for 5 minutes. 

Note: You can make an all four galette as well. Just use 1 1/4 cup of flour instead of a mixture of wheat and flour.

2. You should have the butter cut into small pieces and stored in the freezer for as long as you can, even 2-3 days is fine. 

3. Now take out the bowl with flour and to it add the pieces of cold butter. Using a pastry cutter cut in the chunked butter or use your hands to work the butter unto the flour mixture until it gains a sandy/pebbly appearance. There would be little bits of butter in the mixture which is completely fine as it helps in making a flaky pastry.

Tip: If you feel the butter is melting, stow the bowl again in the refrigerator for 5 minutes and continue with next steps

4. Chop the Rosemary and thyme into very small size and add to this mixture.

5. Add the yoghurt and mix it with the flour mixture with soft hands.

6. Freeze your water in the freezer for 10 minutes and then to it stir in the Apple cider vinegar. 

7. Add this water into the pastry mixture 1 spoon at a time. Gently mix with your hands or a spatula until the dough just clumps together.

8. Now take a cling wrap or an air tight container and stow the dough in the fridge till you work on the filling, or preferably overnight.

Making the Filling 

1. Marinate the chicken breast with salt, red chilli powder, lime juice and cracked black pepper for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Cut the ends of the broccoli and cut it into pieces. Put a pot of water to boil and add a pinch of salt. Now add the broccoli florets into the boiling water. Add the raw kernels of sweetcorn also to the water. Blanch covered for 3 or 4 minutes - just until the broccoli is bright green and has started to soften a bit. Now transfer them to a colander and drain under running water. Set aside.

3. Add oil and heat a frying pan. when the oil is hot add the chicken breasts in a single layer. Cook on a medium heat and turn after the lower part has started to brown. Cook until the chicken is done.

4. Now add the onions and garlic into the pan. Throw in the thyme and rosemary sprig. Also add 1/2 tsp butter, a little salt and 1 tsp of cracked black pepper. Cook till the onions are a little soft. 

5. Now add the blanched corn into the pan and toss. Cook until corn gets some colour but still has a little bite. 

6. Now add the broccoli and toss for a couple of minutes. take the pan off the flame and take out the chicken. Shred the chicken and keep aside.

7. Now put the pan back on the heat and add the shredded chicken back.    Give it a final toss and adjust the seasoning. The filling is now ready.

Assembling & Baking

1. Preheat oven to 220 degree C or microwave (convection mode) 200 degree C.

2. If you are stowing the dough in the refrigerator overnight then you need to thaw the dough for at least an hour or two before you make the galette.

3. Roll the dough into an 11 to 12 inch rough circle. Place the parchment paper on the baking tray. rub a little butter on the surface of the paper and place the rolled out dough on the paper carefully.

4. Now grate the cheese in the center of the circle and leave a 2 inch border all along the circle. 

Note: I used cheddar cheese for this recipe. You can use a combination of cheddar and mozzarella too. Or you can just use ricotta cheese too.

5. Now pile the chicken, broccoli, corn filling on top of the pastry. Drape sprigs of thyme and some chopped rosemary over the top of the pile.  Gently brush or spray the top with a little bit of olive oil. Grate some more cheese on the top if you are a cheese lover!

Tip: You can can avoid a soggy crust by dusting the galette dough with semolina flour or breadcrumbs before adding the filling. Though this is more applicable when you are baking a sweet galette.

6. From one end start folding the border of the pastry into pleats as big as you like (refer to picture)

7. Now brush the folded edges with fresh cream generously. 

Tip: You can also substitute fresh cream with eggwash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water). 

8. Now sprinkle the folded edges with roasted sesame. The sesame will stick to the cream.

9. Sprinkle a little salt on top of the filling.

10. Bake in the pre heated oven at 220 degree C in oven or 200 degree C in microwave (convection mode) for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling has taken on a roasted appearance. Around 25 minutes start checking for the doneness of the top at every 3-4 minutes. 

Serving

Remove the galette from the oven and let it cool down a bit before transferring it on the serving plate.