The galette offers a canvas for baking any number of beautiful savory or sweet pies for every season of the year. After experimenting with several versions of Galette de Courgette (Zucchini), I settled on this simple recipe. The versatile zucchini galette may be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or a light supper. Galettes placed in a pie box make excellent gifts for the holidays or birthdays. While I encourage purists to make their own crust, refrigerated pie crusts from Pillsbury or other store brand versions (I use Kroger’s) make this recipe easy to make. A local restauranteur in Memphis with a deep knowledge of French cuisine swore my store-bought, refrigerated crust tasted homemade. If you’d like to try to a sweet galette made with fruit, my recent recipe for a Galette de Pomme is easier to make than this recipe.
Galette de Courgette
Ingredients:
- 2 small to medium zucchini, sliced thin with a mandolin
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 refrigerated pie crust
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1 egg yolk
- ~ 1 teaspoon water
Directions:
- Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and allow crust to come to room temperature in its wrapper.
- Place sliced zucchini on cookie sheets lined with paper towels. Lightly salt the zucchini, then turn each slice to salt the other side. Allow moisture to drain onto paper towels for 30-60 minutes.
- In a medium-sized, non-reactive ceramic bowl, mix 1 minced garlic clove, Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add a little cracked pepper for flavor. Set aside
- In a small non-reactive ceramic bowl mix remaining garlic cloves, oil and Kosher salt. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Unwrap and unroll pie crust until flat on a sheet of aluminum foil lightly sprayed with olive oil. Starting at the center of the crust, spread an even layer of the cheese mixture to within 1 inch of the edges of the crust.
- Press the top surface of the sliced zucchini with paper towels to absorb exsolved moisture and then remove the top layer of paper towels. Starting at the center of the cheese mixture on the crust, begin overlapping slices of zucchini in a spiral pattern until you reach the edge of the cheese mixture. Use with the smaller diameter slices at the center and save the larger slices for the outer part of the spiral.
- Pinch and fold an edge of the crust inward and over the zucchini layer toward the center of the galette. Two to three inches along the edge, pinch and fold the edge inward and over again and again. You’ll want a about 9-10 pinched folds toward the center. I like my pinches on the edge to lean in the same direction for the entire circumference of the galette, but no need to indulge my OCD.
- Spoon the garlic and oil mixture evenly on the surface of the zucchini.
- Mix egg yolk and water in a small bowl and brush the surface of the crust at the edges. The egg wash will produce a crispy golden brown crust.
- Transfer galette to a metal cookie sheet on the aluminum foil. Place on center rack in oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the zucchini fully wilts and the garlic becomes a crispy golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow galette to rest for 5 minutes. Slide the galette onto a wooden cutting board or other serving surface. Cut into 6-8 slices and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Excellent when served with a glass of Chardonnay.
Place at the Table 