Individual Heirloom Tomato Galettes with Cottage Cheese
Individual heirloom tomato galettes with a flaky sourdough crust and creamy cottage cheese filling. Freeform, handheld, and no tart pan or blind baking required.
Equipment
- Digital Kitchen Scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Pastry blender
- bench scraper
- Rolling Pin
- Food processor or blender
- ruler
- 4 inch round cutter
- Wire cooling rack
- Rimmed sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- - Pastry brush or a strip of paper towel
Ingredients
Sourdough Pie Crust
- 385 g bread or all purpose flour 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons
- 226 g cold butter cubed (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
- 155 g cold sourdough discard 2/3 cup
- 90 g cold water 6 tablespoons
- 7 g fine sea salt 1 1/4 teaspoons
Cottage Cheese Filling
- 300 g cottage cheese 2% or 4% (1 1/3 cups)
- 38 g finely grated parmesan 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3 g garlic powder 1 teaspoon
- 6 g fresh basil chopped (2 tablespoons) Dried, 1 teaspoon
- 1 g fine sea salt a pinch, then to taste
- black pepper to taste
Assembly
- heirloom tomatoes about 2 pounds
- cherry tomatoes optional (about 1 cup)
- 36 g finely shredded parmesan 6 tablespoons, 1 per galette
- 1/2 large egg yolk
- 7 g whole milk 1/2 tablespoon
- flaky salt and torn fresh basil to finish
Instructions
Make the Crust
- Whisk the cold water into the cold sourdough discard until smooth and pourable.
- Cut the cold cubed butter into the flour and salt until you have flat, coin sized flakes. Stop while you can still see distinct pieces of butter.
- Set aside about 2 tablespoons of the thinned discard. Pour the rest over the flour and butter.
- Mix just until the dough comes together in a rough, shaggy mass with dry patches still visible. Add the reserved liquid a little at a time only if it will not gather.
- Turn the dough out onto the counter and pat it into a rough disc.
- Fold the right side in toward the center, then the left side over that. Fold the top down over that, then the bottom up over that.
- Pat the dough back out and repeat the fold 2 to 3 more times, tucking in any loose crumbs from the counter, until it holds together. Stop as soon as it does.
- Weigh the dough and divide it into 6 equal portions, about 144g each. Shape each into a disc, handling as little as possible.
- Wrap the discs individually and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Prep the Tomatoes and Filling
- Slice the heirloom tomatoes 1/4 inch thick and cut them to about 4 inch rounds. Halve any cherry tomatoes lengthwise.
- Lay everything in a single layer on a wire rack set over a sheet pan and salt both sides.
- Drain the large slices 20 to 30 minutes and the cherry tomatoes 10 minutes, then blot the tops dry. Do not rinse.
- Blend the cottage cheese, parmesan, egg yolks, garlic powder, basil, salt, and pepper until just smooth. Do not over blend.
- Taste and adjust the salt, then refrigerate until you are ready to assemble.
- Whisk the half egg yolk and the milk together for the egg wash.
- Place a rack in the lower third of the oven, set a rimmed sheet pan on it, and preheat to 425F for at least 20 minutes.
Assemble: The Fancy Edge
- Pull 2 or 3 dough portions from the fridge and rest them at room temperature 10 minutes, no longer.
- Roll each portion to about 7 inches on its own square of parchment.
- Set the 4 inch cutter in the center of the round and press lightly to score a circle. This is your filling boundary and it leaves a border of about an inch and a half.
- Cut straight slits from the outer edge of the dough in toward the scored line, all the way around, spaced about an inch apart. You are making a ring of tabs.
- Brush the border with egg wash. The tabs need something tacky to grip or they will not stay folded.
- Spread 64g of filling inside the scored circle, then scatter 1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan over the filling.
- Fold each tab up and over, one at a time, laying each one against the last so they all overlap in the same direction. FUll video instruction on the blog
- Arrange the tomatoes on top. Lift the cutter out now if you left it in place.
- Go back around the outside and lift the edge to about 45 degrees, then press in and down against the filling to seal it. Do not flatten it.
- Brush the outside of the border with egg wash and wipe away any that pools in the creases.
- Slide the parchment onto the preheated sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining portions, keeping baked galettes and unused dough in the fridge until you get to it.
Assemble: The Rustic Edge
- Pull 2 or 3 dough portions from the fridge and rest them at room temperature 10 minutes, no longer.
- Roll each portion to about 7 inches on its own square of parchment.
- Spread 64g of filling in the center, leaving a bare border of about an inch and a half.
- Scatter 1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan over the filling, then arrange the tomatoes on top.
- Fold the border up over the edge of the filling, letting it gather and pleat naturally as you work around the circle.
- Brush the folded edge with egg wash and wipe away any that pools in the creases.
- Slide the parchment onto the preheated sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining portions, keeping unused dough in the fridge until you get to it.
Bake
- Bake at 425F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden and the filling is set.
- Watch the edge from 18 minutes and tent it loosely with foil if it colors ahead of the base.
- Finish with flaky salt and torn fresh basil straight out of the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
No Sourdough Starter
Make the classic crust instead. Use 460g all purpose or bread flour (3 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon), 226g cold cubed butter (1 cup, or 2 sticks), 169g ice water (11 1/2 tablespoons), and 7g fine sea salt (1 1/4 teaspoons). Skip the first step, add the ice water in place of the thinned discard, and follow every other step exactly as written.
Tips
Cold butter, cold discard, cold water. All three. If your kitchen runs warm, chill the mixing bowl too.
Every flour absorbs differently and every starter sits at a different hydration, which is why you hold back some of the liquid. Use your eyes rather than the number. The dough should look shaggy and underdone before you fold it.
The 10 minute rest is a narrow window. Straight from the fridge the dough cracks when you roll it. Past 10 minutes the butter softens and you lose the layers. Set a timer.
Preheat the sheet pan. This is the single biggest thing standing between you and a soggy bottom, so give it a full 20 minutes.
Bake to color, not to the clock. There is no sugar in this dough, so it browns slowly. Pale means underbaked.
You need far less egg wash than you think. Half an egg yolk and half a tablespoon of milk covers all six, including the pass under the fancy edge.
Substitutions
Ricotta swaps in for the cottage cheese one for one by weight with no draining needed. You lose a little protein and gain a slightly softer set.
Both 2% and 4% cottage cheese work. The 2% goes in a little looser and sets up the same.
Romano can replace the parmesan. It is sharper and drier and browns in specks rather than melting into a sheet, so pull back on the salt.
Thyme or oregano can stand in for the basil. Chives are good in the filling.
Bread flour and all purpose flour both work. Bread flour absorbs a little more liquid and gives a slightly sturdier crust, which suits a freeform tart. All purpose is a touch more tender.
Troubleshooting
If the filling looks runny in the bowl, leave it alone. It sets into a firm band once the egg yolks hit the heat. Do not add cornstarch or cream cheese.
If the crust bakes up pale, it needed longer. No sugar means slow browning, so judge by color and not by the timer.
If the bottom is soft, the sheet pan was not hot enough. Preheat it a full 20 minutes next time and consider moving the rack lower.
If the border slumped outward, the seal was loose or the dough got warm. Press the edge in and down against the filling before it goes in the oven.
If liquid pooled on top, the tomatoes needed more draining time. Give them the full 30 minutes and blot well.
If the crust came out tough, it was overworked. Stop folding the moment the dough holds together.
Make Ahead
Mix the dough and blend the filling the night before and refrigerate both. The dough gets its long chill and the filling firms up while it sits. Assembly day goes much faster.
The dough keeps 2 days in the fridge.
Storage
Best the day they are made. They hold well on the counter for a few hours, which makes them good for a party.
Refrigerate up to 3 days in an airtight container. The crust softens, so reheat at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes to bring it back.
Portioned dough freezes up to 3 months. Wrap each disc individually, thaw overnight in the fridge, then rest 10 minutes before rolling.
Do not freeze assembled galettes. The tomatoes turn to water on thawing.
Variations
For a parmesan crusted edge, press finely grated parmesan onto the folded border before baking, then broil about a minute at the end. The edge blisters and browns deeply and the whole thing reads more like a savory pizza.
Roasted zucchini or caramelized onion under the tomatoes is very good. Anything wet needs the same salting and draining treatment.
To make one large galette instead of six, roll the whole batch to about a 14 inch round, leave a 2 inch border, and bake 35 to 45 minutes.
