Galette 2

The other day while at work, another cooking idea just popped in my head (dinner ideas usually come to my mind when I'm working).  I wanted to make a tomatoes galette.  Having never ate one myself, I went to Google and Smitten Kitten and did some searching.  Soon enough I found several variations, none of which was exactly what I had in mind.  So I decided to make it myself, using the pastry from Smitten Kitchen and toppings of my own invention.  I was skeptical of the sour cream part (I substituted it with yogurt) but naturally trusted the source.  It did make all the difference, and is perfect for this galette.  The combination of flaky, almost croissant-like, crust, creamy ricotta and Gruyere cheese mix, and sweet, ripped tomatoes with fresh basil was so perfect that it was worth the 2 hours in the heat-waved kitchen.


Pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chill again
1/4 cup Liberte Certified Organic no fat yogurt (the original recipe called for sour cream, but I used this yogurt which has a similar consistency as sour cream and it works just fine)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water


Filling:
4 ripe tomatoes on vine
A handful of basil, slivered (it really depends on your palette)
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced or diced
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shaved Gruyere cheese (ok, I admit, I made up the measurement.  I just add cheese until it looks like there is enough.)
a bit of Parmesan cheese or whatever cheese you have in the fridge
2 tbsp mayo
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 pinches of kosher salt
black pepper, 4 twists


Glaze:
A bit of egg yolk + water (and make scramble egg with the remaining egg)


Prep:
Mix the flour, butter, and salt together using flour-coated fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add water, yogurt, and lemon juice and mix all the ingredients into a rough dough ball.  Press it into disk shape and wrap with plastic wrap.  Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.


In the mean time, slice tomatoes and remove juice and seed.  If you want your galette to be less soggy, lay the tomatoes on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and let sit for 20 minutes to remove some juice.  Save the juice.  Caramelize red onion with sugar, tomato juice and balsamic vinegar.  Set aside and let it cool down.  Roll basil leaves and cut it into thin slices.  In a separate bowl, mix the cheese and mayo together.  


Make:
Preheat the oven at 400F.  Roll the dough out on a flour-dusted surface.  Fold it into quarter lightly and transfer to a piece of parchment paper.  Layer the caramelized onion on the pastry, then spread the cheese-mayo mix evenly on top but leave a 2-inch border.  Sprinkle the basil and garlic on the cheese and then lay the tomatoes slices nicely on top.  Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle the black pepper on top.  Fold the border on the filling but leave the centre uncovered.  Glaze the dough with egg yolk water. 
Bake the galette in the middle rack for 30 minutes, then turn on the broiler for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes is cooked and the crust is golden brown.  Serve warm.


P.S.  Some recipes have the cheese mixture on top of the tomatoes.  I haven't tried it but they look delicious in the photos.  
PPS Chilling the butter after cutting makes all the difference.  So does covering your hands with flour.  Basically try to avoid touching the butter with your bare hands and form the dough quickly before the butter melts.  The dough is softer than normal pie dough because of the yogurt, but it makes the pastry heavenly flaky!