As a food photographer, vibrant fresh seasonal produce is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. I often grab produce without even thinking how I am going to use it in a dish. That’s exactly what happened when I saw these gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. A delicious raw salad or simply topped on a crusty toast are the best ways to go with these seasonal sweet tomatoes. But I figured that making a galette or tart would be the best way to make my kid enjoy these juicy tomatoes. Funny how just a couple of years back, he used to eat raw tomatoes like candy and now he makes a face and runs away. Like million other toddlers, he too loves pizza so, you can imagine how much he enjoyed this Tomato Thyme Ricotta Galette.
What is a Galette?
Galette is a free form shaped tart where the fruits or veggies are piled up in the center of the buttery crust and the edges are folded at about an inch. You don’t need a special tart pan or any fancy gadget. Galette is rustic and requires less effort to shape it. Crostatas and Galettes are the same! Crostata is an Italian term and Galette is French
How to make Heirloom Tomato Thyme and Ricotta Galette
The crust: Like any other pie/tart dough, this is a simple one that includes all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, ice water and butter crust. The filling: Ricotta cheese is whipped with egg, garlic, salt and fresh thyme leaves. Then, it’s spread evenly and topped with thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes and a few cherry tomatoes.
Key point to remember while making the crust for Tomato Thyme Ricotta Galette:
Make sure that the butter is really cold. Instead of cutting the butter into the flour, grate the cold butter using a fork or pastry cutter into the flour. This kitchen-tip will make it very easy to uniformly mix the butter around.Make sure that the water is ice cold too so that the butter doesn’t melt as you form the dough.Do not knead too much. Just bring it together and try to make a few layers by folding it a few times.Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you roll it out.
Assembling the Heirloom Tomatoes Thyme and Ricotta Galette
Preheat the oven before you start rolling the doughAfter you roll the dough, place it in the cookie sheet and add the filling.Remember to not fill till the edge. You need 1-inch of the crust to fold it over.Once the galette is baked, let it rest for 5 minutes before you slice.
When Avyan saw me assembling the galette/crostata, he screamed with joy and tried really hard to pronounce galette! Super cute, I tell you. He even went for a second slice and that made me a very happy mommy. Here are couple more interesting tarts you want to try!
Asparagus Prosciutto Phyllo Tart
Fruit and Meringue Tart
