GALETTE - puttanesca style and a sweet galette with nectarines and frangipane.

Free-form tarts and why you should get to know them better.

Hi folks,

Welcome back!

I really have nothing bad to say about a galette, in fact I really love them and I make them so often. Why do I love them? Because they are one of the easiest pastry tarts a home cook can make and require no fiddly, fluted tart tins. The topping can be interchanged throughout the seasons and they are impressive, with little effort made. They are forgiving too, with there classic rustic edge they don’t have to be meticulously neat.

The pastry is important, it needs to be buttery and flaky. I’ve got a fail safe pastry as well as two of my favourite toppings for you today. One sweet and one savoury.

These are perfect for a garden lunch when the weather gets warmer or leave to cool then pack away for a picnic. The sweet one particularly makes me feel like I could be in the south of France eating a fruit tart from a sweet little patisserie! a good dollop of cold, thick crème fraîche is mandatory here.

Thanks for being here all. Enjoy!

Esther x

HOW TO

Make the pastry - The pastry has a high ration of butter. The butter is frozen and then grated into the dry ingredients. Grating it helps it to break it into small pieces and therefore distribute it better. Having it frozen not only makes it easier to grate but it also gives it that ‘short’ flaky texture. Make sure you always grate the butter on the coarse side of a box grater. You can swap half the plain white flour for wholemeal spelt if you prefer a nuttier, richer crust. Try not to overwork your pastry, just bring it together enough that you don’t have any dry, floury patches. Overworking it and k eating it will turn the pastry dense and tough.

Assemble the galette - Rolling your party between two sheets of parchment makes it easier to move around and stops it sticking to the rolling pin/kitchen surface. It also makes pulling over the edges easier as you use the bottom piece to guide the edges over the filing.

Bake - the oven needs to be hot and you’ll need a baking tray in the oven to get really hot before sliding the galette onto it. This helps you get a nice, crisp, evenly cooked base and avoids that soggy unpleasant texture.

OTHER TOPPING IDEAS

Savoury -

• Just tomatoes - this is quite nice with lots of halved and sliced, ripe summer tomatoes, a splash of vinegar and a tbsp sugar. They turn all jammy and delicious. You can add fresh basil or torn fresh oregano too which is really lovely.

• Goats cheese, thyme and courgette - Add 1 tbsp thyme to the savoury pastry. Spread a thick layer of soft goats or goats curd cheese on the base mixed with a zested lemon and some seasoning. Top with thinly sliced courgettes marinated in olive oil, salt, chilli and a little lemon juice. Top the goats cheese with the courgettes. Bake until the courgettes are golden and beginning to char.

• Figs and prosciutto - Spread goats cheese or ricotta on the base, top with torn open figs, prosciutto, fresh oregano or thyme.

• Potato, tallegio and pancetta - thinly slice new potatoes as thinly as you can and toss with melted butter, chopped rosemary and lots of salt and pepper. Layer up with sliced tallegio cheese and thinly sliced pancetta before baking.

Sweet -

If you’re doing a fruit topping and not using the frangipane you need to still scatter some ground almonds over the base. This stops the fruit seeping through too much and turning the galette soggy.

• Apricot or cherries works really well with the frangipane. Just swap out the nectarines for small, halved apricots or pitted cherries. Finish with some flaked almonds then bake and dust with icing once brought out of the oven.

• Blackberry and apple is a really lovely combination and kind of gives you that feeling of eating a comforting pie without as much much effort. Mix two sliced cooking apples with 150g blackberries and 80g caster sugar. You can bake this topping with the frangipane filling or just as it is.

Puttanesca galette

PREP 45 mins plus chilling COOK 30 mins SERVES 6

160g unsalted butter

220g plain flour

35g parmesan, finely grated

½ tsp fine sea salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

For the topping

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 white or yellow onion, very thinly sliced

pinch dried chilli (optional)

2-3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced - bulls heart work well

handful pitted black kalamata olives

1 tbsp drained capers

6-8 good quality anchovy fillets in olive oil

handful basil, torn

The night before you make the galette, wrap the butter and put it in the freezer. When you’re ready to make the pastry, put the plain flour, 20g of the grated parmesan and the sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer and wrap one end in foil, then use this to hold it as you coarsely grate the butter into the flour mixture. Unwrap the last piece of butter and carefully grate that in as well. Roughly mix everything, then add 5-6 tbsp ice cold water and mix swiftly with a cutlery knife to combine, then use your hands to bring it together into a dough and knead briefly. Wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hr. Will keep in the fridge for up to two days.

For the topping, heat the olive oil and butter together in a large, non-stick frying pan. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and fry over a low heat for 15 mins, stirring regularly until the onions are softened and sticky. Leave to cool for 15 mins.

Roll the pastry out between two pieces of baking parchment to a round, roughly 35cm. Peel off the top layer of parchment and grate over the remaining 15g parmesan. leaving a 4cm border. Top with the softened onions then sliced tomatoes, olives and capers. Fold in the edges of the pastry to slightly overlap the topping using the parchment to push the edges over the filling. Brush the edge with the beaten egg and grate over some extra parmesan around the edge. Use the parchment underneath to slide the galette onto a baking sheet. Chill for 30 mins.

Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan. Place a flat baking sheet in the oven for 20 mins to get really hot. Once chilled, slide the galette along with the parchment on to the hot baking sheet. Close the oven and immediately turn down to 200C/180C fan. Bake the galette for 30 mins until golden brown. Leave to sit for 5 mins.

Top with the anchovies, basil and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

GOOD TO KNOW -

• Place a jug of cold water in the freezer for 30 mins before using in the pastry.