Butternut Squash, Wild Garlic and Taleggio Galette
And the art of looking purposely dishevelled
If pies were hairstyles, the galette would be a messy bun, and I don’t mean like when I do a messy bun and end up looking like a twice-divorced PE teacher in need of a stiff drink. No - unlike me, a galette is fundamentally French, so they can do great messy buns without trying. Galettes turn up to parties with confidence in their own imperfections, and they won’t stand for any of your bullshit about not being able to make pastry either. You can definitely make the pastry.
Oh, by the way, if you’ve no idea what a galette even is, let alone whether it is the equivalent of a messy bun or not, have a photo. Specifically of the one you’re just about to get the recipe for:
See? Elegantly dishevelled. To clear up any last fronds of doubt, a galette (which does imply the existence of a larger, full sized ‘gal’) is a sort of free-form tart* with either a sweet or savoury filling held in loosely with some buttery shortcrust. Which brings me back to where we were just now: convincing you that you can make the pastry yourself.
Ok, fine, you can buy the pastry, and I won’t insult you by pretending that’s not the easy option. But let me tell you, making it isn’t difficult. I do it in a blender, rest it until I get bored (which isn’t long) and like tadpoles and marzipan, probably handle it more than I should do. Despite my efforts, this homemade pastry is still delicious; much more so than the shop bought stuff even though it doesn’t look half as neat (please note that I will not hear a word said against shop-bought puff pastry, but the jury’s out on shortcrust). And as we’ve established, of course, the beauty of a galette is that neatness doesn’t matter: haphazardness is practically an objective here.
What I’m saying is that you should definitely make the pastry.
The filling also continues on this theme of haphazardness because not much in it is especially seasonal, or commonly observed as platemates. The squash was on offer at Lidl and had been lurking in my cupboard for a while, and I mindlessly picked some end-season leathery wild garlic leaves next to the river on my way back from buying the taleggio one afternoon in Glasgow’s conveniently gentrified West End. The idea of combining all these things together in a galette actually came to me while staring at an impressive looking heron on that same river a day later, even though if we’re plotting things on the classic bird-pastry-comparison axis, a heron is far closer to an eclair than a galette. Nonetheless, cooked down with nutmeg, onion and a splash of white wine vinegar, the filling works perfectly - and the buttery crunch of the pastry really ties it all together. Merci, Monsieur Heron, merci.
This galette is perfect for a late lunch or an early dinner with a mustardy salad, and like any willing tart, is delightfully transportable too.
If you haven’t got an abundance of frozen wild garlic in the freezer, the green tops from a bunch of spring onions - sliced once lengthways and once horizontally - are a fine substitution. And if I’m perfectly honest, any cheese will work for the filling if you can’t find taleggio, which is as elusive and ruinously expensive as it is delicious. Use what you like best.
Happy galetting, my loves, and may your next messy bun be perfectly imperfect.
Butternut Squash, Wild Garlic and Taleggio Galette (v)
Serves 2 generously as a main meal, 3-4 as part of a larger spread with salad and cheeses and pudding and stuff
Takes 45 minutes hands on time, 30 minutes baking
For the pastry:
100g of fridge-cold butter
A pinch of salt
100g of wholemeal flour
100g of plain flour (use 200g total of plain if you don’t have wholemeal)
1 egg, beaten (it’s un-oeuf)
Ice-cold water on hand
For the filling
Half a large or a small butternut squash (you’ll need about 300-350g peeled and de-seeded)
One medium white onion
1 clove of garlic
15ml or 1 tbsps of white wine vinegar
30g or 2 tbsps of butter or olive oil
150g** of taleggio (failing that, port salut or camembert are my next top choices, followed by cheddar, feta or brie)
6 wide leaves of wild garlic, or 10 green tops from a bunch of spring onions
Fresh nutmeg
Black pepper
Method
Make the pastry by cutting the butter into cubes and putting it in a blender with the flour and the salt. Pulse until you get what looks like breadcrumbs. I do mine in a mini chopper because I don’t have a blender so I have to shoogle it about a bit to get it all evenly breadcrumby. If you don’t have a blender, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you are bored and it is mostly sandy and incorporated.
Tip this mix into a large bowl. Add the egg to the bowl and mix it about a bit with a table knife until a dough starts to form. If it’s too dry, which it probably will be, add a tablespoon of the coldest water you can find and bring it all together, pressing, rather than kneading too much as to not develop the gluten. Form this into a smooth ball, then cover with clingfilm and pop in the fridge while you make the filling.
To make the filling, start by chopping the butternut squash into smallish dice - around 1.5cmx1.5 cm if you’re into accuracy, but then chop each dice in half lengthways so they’re now thinnish squares. Pop the chopped squash into a plastic or glass container, splashing with a bit of water and salt and nuke it in the microwave for 10 minutes or until just softened. If you don’t have a microwave, boil this for the same time on the hob until just knife-tender.
While your squash is either in the microwave or boiling, dice your onion finely and fry it over a low heat in the butter or oil and a pinch of salt for 4-5 minutes before adding in your garlic clove, which you can grate for a stronger garlic flavour, or slice thinly for less. I prefer it less garlicky so I slice mine. Add in as much nutmeg and black pepper as you see fit (I like lots of both) and cook this with a lid on for a further 3 minutes, or until the onions are completely soft and just starting to colour.
Drain the squash and add it to the onion and garlic. Stir to let everything get to know each other, keeping the heat gentle underneath. Roughly chop 5 out of the 6 wild garlic leaves, or 9 out of the 10 spring onion tops (if you’re using these, slice them lengthways rather than into rings). Add this to the pan and let them wilt quietly before splashing in the vinegar for a bit of bite. Test for more seasoning. When the vinegar has lost enough of its acerbic edge, switch off the heat.
Preheat the oven to 200 fan, 220 not-fan. Remove your pastry from the fridge and using a wine bottle, or indeed, a rolling pin designed for exactly this purpose, roll out your pastry into a roughish circle, using flour to stop things sticking all the time. You’re aiming for a circle the size of a large pizza, a little less than 0.5cm thick. It can be very rustic around the edges; this is what gives the galette such charm. When you’re happy, line a pizza tray or baking sheet with greaseproof and slide the pastry onto it.
Plonk the filling into the middle of the pastry and spread it out until it’s about an inch from the rough edges, a bit like a badly behaved pizza. Slice the taleggio into £1 thick slices and then lay it over the filling, including up to the edges, then fold the borders in on themselves so they roughly enclose the filling and some of the cheese (the cheesy crust bits are gorgeous). Bake this on the top shelf for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly, oozy, golden and crispy.
Do not give yourself soft palate injuries by attempting to eat this straight from the oven. While it’s nice hot, it also works perfectly well at room temperature - garnish with the last of the wild garlic, chopped finely, or some rings of spring onion if you’re doing so.
An ideal pudding for this would be a salted milk chocolate mousse if you’re being classy or one of those Cadbury chocolate buttons snap-pots if you’re not.
*you called?
**Ok, in all honestly I ate a lot of it before it made it onto the galette but 150g is optimal
I cackled at the egg pun and was confused by heron = eclair making sense 🤣
Um, yes please! (I will be buying my pastry because I get lazy when it’s warm!)