Savory Pie for Dinner

Bake up a summery, veg-packed free-form galette for the main event

Issue 36: From Dana

What kid, young or young at heart, doesn’t love pie? Zero. Not a one.

Since everyone on the planet universally adores it, a great way to get kids excited about making and eating dinner is to tell them they’re having pie—not a sweet one, of course, but a buttery, salt-kissed pastry shell filled with whatever combination of summer produce, herbs and cheese makes their hearts sing.

But let’s be honest: it’s summertime and the living is easy, so who wants to deal with all the usual persnickety pie rules? Top and bottom crust (and par baking it, ugh!), crimped edges, air vents, etc; that fussiness can be a drag for even the most seasoned cooks, and downright daunting for budding ones who have never made pie before. 

Which is why, when we teach students how to make classic pie dough, the end goal is something looser but no less delicious: galettes.

Galette is the French term for a free-form pie (the literal translation is “flat cake”) that’s made by rolling out pastry, topping the center with ingredients, then folding over the edges to contain the whole thing. You can fold them haphazardly into an organic shape or neatly in a pinwheel fashion—it doesn’t really matter. The point is to make it easy, whether your goal is sweet or savory.

Speaking of which, you can make your galette life even easier by buying store-bought pie dough or swapping the dough for puff pastry. But for us, preparing the pastry from scratch is an important lesson for our students, because once you know how to make it—working fast so as not to melt the butter, which is the key to creating a flaky crust—you’ll carry that skill with you forever.

Pastry aside, the real beating heart of a galette (and the fun part for kids to come up with) is its filling, and how that takes shape depends on what you have and what you’re craving. We encourage young cooks to consider the endless options, but we offer up the basic template outlined in the recipe below. You need an allium of some sort (Maybe it’s sliced onions or leeks, cooked down until sweet and glossy, and a bit of minced garlic). Then add some sweet summer vegetables that play well together (Corn, tomatoes and scallions? Squash and onions? Broccolini and red pepper?). Then top it all off with some cheese and a shower of herbs. 

No matter which way they go, the kids can’t go wrong, which is high praise for dinner any night of the week. 

Savory Summery Dinner Galette
Makes one 10-inch galette, about 6 servings

For the dough:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons cream or milk, divided
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-3 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion thinly sliced (can also use 1 cup chopped leeks or shallots)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced 
1-2 teaspoons dried herbs or spices (such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes)
2-3 pounds sliced, chopped, or shredded vegetables (mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, fennel, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, corn kernels, leafy greens)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup crumbled or shredded cheese (goat, feta, parmesan, gouda, cheddar, etc.)
Pinch of flaky salt
Roughly chopped herbs (parsley, chives, basil), for garnish 

Make the dough: 

In a large mixing bowl or a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flour,  and salt. In a small bowl beat the egg and 1 tablespoon of the cream.

Add the butter to the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to break up the butter, or pulse briefly in the food processor. Only mix until you have lumps of butter the size of a black bean. Add the egg mixture and mix until it just barely comes together; the mixture should look like slightly wet oats. If it is still too dry, drizzle in a tablespoon of ice water at a time, taking care not to overmix the dough.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and gather it into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling: 

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, shallot, or leek, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and any dried herbs or spices; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add all the vegetables except the leafy greens, and cook until they are just soft and any water they’ve released has evaporated, about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the mix. Add the leafy greens (if using) and cook until they have wilted and any water they’ve released has evaporated.   

Remove the skillet  from the heat and season the vegetable mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Let the filling cool to room temperature. 

Assemble the galette:

Heat the oven to 400°F. Roll the dough into a roughly 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer the dough to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat, letting the edges of the dough hang over the sides of the pan.

Scatter 1/4 cup of the cheese across the dough (if using). Arrange half of the cooled vegetable filling in the center of the dough, leaving a 1- to 2-inch border. Scatter the remaining cheese across the top of the filling, then add the remaining filling. 

Carefully fold the pastry dough over the vegetables, working around the circle, making between five and seven pleats. Brush the pastry generously with the remaining 1 tablespoon cream. Sprinkle flaky salt across the crust.

Place the galette in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack. Garnish with fresh herbs, and serve, sliced, warm or at room temperature.