Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

Greek holidays are not for vegetarians. We celebrate with lots of food, mostly meat, and especially on Easter (Orthodox Easter is this Sunday), the food is for hard-core carnivores and not for the faint-hearted.

We roast a whole lamb on a spit, we make kokoretsi (lamb’s liver and lungs wrapped with lamb’s intestines), kontosouvli (pork neck pieces on a spit), sausages, fried veal liver and so on and so forth, you get the picture. In case you don’t, check out this post in which I shared some photos from my Easter in Greece two years ago.

There’s always a need for something fresh on the table alongside all that meat, like salads, legume dishes and pites (Greek pies). You know I love making pites, small or large, but I also love making galettes, like this one I made the other day using the wild asparagus I raved on about in my last post.

It would make a perfect side dish for the Easter table or any other occasion really. It would also make a perfect light lunch or dinner to pair with a glass of wine and eat outside. Have you noticed how the days are getting warmer and warmer?

The pastry, which is partly made with whole wheat flour, is smeared with a mixture of Greek yoghurt and ricotta and then topped with wild asparagus that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. After baking, the asparagus are drizzled with some more extra virgin olive oil that makes them glisten and even more irresistible than they already are.

The flavors of the fresh and mildly bitter wild asparagus mingle with the sweet and smooth creaminess of the ricotta-yoghurt and the short, crumbly and buttery base that melts in your mouth and that has an earthy quality which pairs beautifully with the wild asparagus. A knockout spring tart.

Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my fellow Greeks and to all those who celebrate!

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

If you’re in Greece, you can substitute the ricotta with anthotyro.
If you can't find wild asparagus, you can substitute them with slender green asparagus spears.

The pastry can be made one or two days in advance and kept in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap.

Yield: 1 galette / 6 pieces

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
130 g whole-wheat flour
130 g all-purpose flour
170 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
60 ml (4 Tbsp) cold water

for the filling
150 g Greek yoghurt 2% fat
150 g ricotta cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200 g wild asparagus

1 small egg, beaten, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking paper, baking sheet, pastry brush


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flours, cold cubed butter and salt and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a rough dough. Don’t over mix.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until you have a rough dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to form a smooth dough. Don’t knead too much or vigorously. Shape it into a ball and then a flattened disk. Wrap it with a large piece of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours.

for the filling
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling.
Add yoghurt, ricotta, a little salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Rinse the asparagus under cold running water and snap off the woody parts at the bottom end. In order to do that, take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger, holding the top half with your other hand, and bend it until it snaps. It will automatically snap at the part where the woody part ends and the tender part starts. This snapping point will be lower or higher depending on the spear.
Cut the asparagus in half if they are too long and place them in a bowl. Toss them with salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an approximately 35cm round, with a 3mm thickness. The dough should be somewhat pliable yet it will be a little stiff. (If it tends to break apart when you roll it out, let it warm a bit before you try again). Remove the top baking paper and place the rolled out dough, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a baking sheet.
Smear ¾ of the yoghurt-ricotta filling evenly on top of the dough, leaving a space around the edges of the pastry, about 4cm. See photo for reference.
Top with the asparagus and fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the dough over the filling.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35-37 minutes until the pastry takes on a golden-brown color and the asparagus look a bit charred.
Take the galette out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the filling with a little olive oil.
Optionally, you can top it with some freshly grated lemon zest or even a grating of parmesan.

Serve with the remaining yoghurt-ricotta filling on the side.

You can keep the galette for a day or two, covered, at room temperature, but it is best eaten the same day.

Tomato galette with spelt pastry

This summer has been eventful to say the least. Many things happened, some of them happy and thrilling, some of them sad, most of them unexpected.

That’s how it is right? Life. With all its ups and downs, the mysterious ways in which things turn out well or bad sometimes. It’s the eternal struggle of keeping a balance between what’s important and what is trivial without getting overwhelmed with what’s going on around you or inside your head.

My head is full of ideas lately about different things I would like to do in the future and some of those things involve food. And talking about food,—this is why you came here for isn’t it?—let’s talk about this galette.

But first, let’s talk tomatoes. I don’t know what happened this year but the tomatoes have been incredible. Their flavor is fantastic, they’re so juicy and aromatic, I can’t stop eating them. Who cares if it’s September, and autumn is here, and blah blah blah. As long as I have tomatoes, it is still summer as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it’s been so hot these past few days in the Netherlands, it really is still summer.

This tomato galette is simply amazing. Not only because tomatoes are involved, not only because a dreamy sun-dried tomato paste is involved, but also because a spelt pastry is involved.

This pastry is a revelation. It’s so crumbly, tender and ever-so-slightly crispy in all the right ways on the edges, and the flavor is slightly nutty, earthy and buttery yet very light.

The filling is scrumptious as well. On the base of the galette, I added a paste made with dried cherry tomatoes from Santorini with a hint of fresh chilli and garlic that had a sweet and at the same time acidic flavor, I then sprinkled with some Greek dried oregano and laid thinly sliced fresh tomatoes on top. They were juicy, but not so that they made the pastry soggy, and deeply satisfying along with the woody flavor of fresh thyme that I added on top.

I paired the galette with burrata which if you don’t know yet, please go to your cheese shop or delicatessen and ask for it. Burrata (which means buttery in Italian) is a fresh Italian cheese made from an outer layer of mozzarella that is filled with cream and mozzarella curds that ooze out when you tear it open. It is one of the most spectacular cheeses I have ever eaten particularly because of its super rich, creamy and chewy texture, and its milky, slightly sour and sweet, buttery flavor that is, however, not at all overwhelming.

No matter which cheese you choose to pair it with, please make this galette. You won’t regret it.

Tomato galette with spelt pastry

A galette is a free-form tart that you don’t need to fuss too much over. You just fold the rolled-out pastry over the filling and you bake.

If you can’t find burrata, serve the galette with fresh buffalo mozzarella, a rich creamy ricotta, Greek manouri, or soft Greek feta.

To make the paste, I used sun-dried cherry tomatoes from Santorini that are not kept in olive oil. If you can only find sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, then omit the olive oil in the paste recipe, or add enough to achieve the desired texture of the paste.
You will have more than enough paste for the galette. Use the remaining paste to toss it with pasta and some parmesan, or smear it on top of some fatty pork chops and roast them in the oven.

Yield: 6 pieces

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
250 g white spelt flour (not wholemeal)
140 g unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
Pinch of salt
1 large egg yolk
1-2 Tbsp cold water

for the sun-dried tomato paste
15 sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil / if you use tomatoes in oil see notes above)
2 garlic cloves
1 fresh red chilli, sliced
½ tsp demerara or other raw cane sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil

for the filling
2 fresh tomatoes, cut into 2mm slices
¼ tsp dried oregano
2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
Olive oil for drizzling

1 egg, beaten with a fork, for glazing the dough

Burrata, to serve

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking paper, rimmed baking sheet, small food processor, pastry brush


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the egg yolk and 1-2 Tbsp cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a dough that holds together in large chunks. Don’t over mix. Add 1 Tbsp of water to start, and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the egg yolk and 1-2 Tbsp cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until the dough holds together in large chunks. Add 1 Tbsp of water to start, and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

Empty the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form a disk, cover it and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 1½ hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an approximately 30cm round, with a 5mm thickness. The dough should be somewhat pliable yet it will be a little stiff. If it tends to break apart when you roll it out, let it warm a bit before you try again. Place the rolled out dough, along with the baking papers, onto a rimmed baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

for the sun-dried tomato paste
In the meantime, prepare the sun-dried tomato paste.
In a small food processor, add all the ingredients for the paste and whizz until you have a slightly chunky paste. It shouldn’t be smooth. Again, allow me to mention that if you are using sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, you will probably not need to add extra olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 180°C / 360F.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator, remove the top baking paper and smear evenly enough paste to cover the center of the round piece of dough, leaving a space around the edges of the pastry, about 5cm. See photo for reference. Sprinkle with the dried oregano, arrange the fresh tomato slices on top, making sure to cover the tomato paste, add a couple sprigs of thyme and drizzle a little olive oil over the tomato slices.
Fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the dough over the filing.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes until the pastry takes on a golden-brown color.
Take the galette out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the filling with a little olive oil.

Serve with burrata sprinkled with some black pepper and drizzled with olive oil.

You can keep the galette for a day or two, covered, at room temperature but it is best eaten the same day.

Strawberry and raspberry galette

I have been enjoying fresh strawberries for over a month now. It’s always the greatest feeling each year when I see the first ones appear at the market and I want to take home with me each and every little basket I lay my eyes on. I become a glutton, munching on them every chance I get, mostly with just a sprinkling of sugar.

After a while, I reluctantly begin to add them to desserts. Tarts, cakes, galettes and of course ice creams. When they mingle with butter, cream, sugar, flour and eggs, their taste becomes a little muted but never muddled.

Then I begin the process of jam making. That’s a huge deal to me when it comes to strawberries. I want to preserve the little red beauties for weeks and months to come, keep them for when the memory of the fresh berries has long fainted and I desperately need to it to be revived.

My go-to recipe is this one and this year I deviated from my regular way of making it. I lightly mashed the strawberries and allowed them to simmer for fifteen more minutes to get that traditional jam texture and feel. S was complaining, as he prefers the preserve-like type of jam with the whole fruits floating in the sweet liquid, but of course he proceeded to finish the first jar in a matter of days.

A couple of days ago I made this galette with strawberries and raspberries. It’s not very photogenic, but I couldn’t help but sharing it because it tastes so damn good. It’s easy, quick and the best treat ever.

It has a buttery, flaky crust, with a little crunch at the bottom from the addition of ground hazelnuts to the base to soak up some of the fruits’ juices, and the light sprinkling of demerara sugar over the rim of the pastry not only adds a caramel-y sweetness but texture as well. The sweet and tart berries release their juices during baking and become almost like jam, and the apricot glaze makes them shiny again and adds that little bit of extra sweetness that balances the sourness of the raspberries.

When some months ago I was craving the flavor of strawberries, I bought an Italian wild-strawberry liqueur which came pretty handy with this galette. I added some to the filling and it gave such a lovely depth of flavor as well as a slight kick. You don’t need to use it if you don’t have it already and I wouldn’t suggest you buy it for that purpose only, but it was a nice touch.

I’ll leave you with this song. Happy June, and see you soon!

Strawberry and raspberry galette

A galette is an easier type of tart in the sense that it’s free-form and you don’t need a tart-pan to bake it in. You just roll it out, place the filling in the center and bring the sides of the pastry up and over the fruit.
Make sure to bake the galette inside a rimmed baking sheet as it will inevitably leak; not a lot but just enough to be unpleasant for you and your oven. I learned this the hard way when, one time, the bottom of my oven was covered in caramelized juices from a similar galette that leaked.

Demerara is raw cane sugar.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
200 g all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
140 g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1-2 Tbsp cold water

for the filling
180 g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved if large
120 g fresh raspberries
1 tsp corn flour
3 Tbsp caster sugar (or more if your berries are too tart)
½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean, cut in half and seeds scraped)
½ tsp wild-strawberry liqueur (optional)

25 g (2 Tbsp) ground hazelnut

for the apricot glaze
1 heaped Tbsp apricot jam
½ Tbsp water

1 small egg, lightly beaten, for glazing the dough
Demerara sugar, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, rimmed baking sheet, baking paper, pastry brush, small sieve


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest and blend for 5 seconds. Add the cold cubed butter and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add 1-2 Tbsp cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a dough that just holds together when pinched (see photo below). Add 1 Tbsp of water to start and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest and stir with a spatula. Add the cubed cold butter and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add 1-2 Tbsp cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until the dough comes together into a ball that just holds together when pinched (see photo above). Add 1 Tbsp of water to start and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

Empty the pastry dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form a disk, cover it and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 40-45 minutes.

for the filling
Add the strawberries, raspberries, corn flour, sugar, vanilla and optionally the strawberry liqueur into a medium-sized bowl and mix gently with a spoon to coat the berries. Leave aside for 10 minutes.

Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry into an approximately 30cm round, with a 0.5cm thickness. Remove the top piece of baking paper and place the pastry, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a rimmed baking sheet.
Scatter in the middle of the pastry the ground hazelnuts. Arrange the strawberry-raspberry filling evenly in the middle of the round piece of pastry and on top of the ground hazelnuts, scraping out any juices and sugar that’s left in the bowl, and taking care to leave space around the edges of the pastry, about 5cm. Place the baking sheet in the fridge. At this point the pastry will have gotten soft so by putting it in the fridge, the butter will harden thus making the pastry flaky when baked.
Leave it in the fridge for about 25 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Remove it from the fridge and fold the edges of the pastry up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks, so the juices don’t run out during baking even though some will find their way out. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the pastry dough over the fruit.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle with some demerara sugar.
Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes until the berries soften and the pastry takes on a golden-brown color.

Remove from the oven and immediately start to make the apricot glaze.
In a small pan add the apricot jam and the water and heat over medium heat until the jam melts, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and strain the mixture. Using a pastry brush, glaze all the berries gently (not the pastry) being careful not to break them up.

Allow the galette to slightly cool. Serve warm with some crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
You can also eat it at room temperature.

You can keep it for a day or two, covered, at room temperature but it is best eaten the same day. The next day the pastry loses its flakiness and becomes somewhat biscuit-y but not hard.