Beet, Leek and Goat Cheese Galette is a variation on butternut squash galette, one of my favorites, but sadly, I haven’t been able to find butternut squash. This week, my usual substitute, sweet potatoes, were also unavailable.
Beets (Poland’s favorite root vegetable), on the other hand, are always available – fresh, canned, shredded, with horseradish, how ever you want them. The flavors were great together; I love this crust, but since I have leftovers, I’m wondering if the crust will be pink tomorrow. (It wasn’t!)
I have to rave about this crust for a minute. The addition of sage gives it was wonderful, savory flavor that really compliments the leeks, and the texture is just perfect. I found to dough very easy to work with. It rolls out like a dream and bakes up to a beautiful golden brown.Galette, by the way, is just a rustic free formed cake or pastry, sweet or savory.
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Beet, Leek and Goat Cheese Galette
- Yield: 6-8 servings
- Category: Main
Description
A sage crust with a delicious vegetarian filling
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves (I used a teaspoon of dried poultry seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 to 8 tablespoons cold water
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
For the filing:
- 3 large beets, peeled, quartered and sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 leeks, the white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 ounces soft, mild goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 to 3 teaspoons, horseradish (optional and to taste)
Instructions
- To make the dough, pulse the flours, butter, sage, and salt in a food processor until it has the texture of a coarse meal. (I’m not intimidated by making pie crust, so I usually don’t bother with using the food processor – too many parts to wash, but in this case, it seemed like the best way to insure the sage was finely chopped and evenly distributed.)
- While pulsing, slowly add ice water, using just enough for the dough to form a ball. Don’t overwork it.
- Shape the dough into a 5 inch disk, wrap in plastic, and chill at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Toss the beets with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt.
- Spread beets over a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Turn once during the roasting (exercise EXTREME caution when opening the oven door to do this. The blast of steam that hit me in the face was frightening.)
- Remove beets from the oven and reduce temperature to 375.
- While the beets are cooking, saute the leeks in the remaining olive oil, with a sprinkle of sea salt, over medium high heat loosely covered for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer leeks to a large bowl and mix with goat cheese, pepper, horseradish, and beets. (Both the dough and the filing can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated. I lined a 9 inch cake pan with plastic wrap and spread the filing around the pan, bringing the wrap around the top of the filing before refrigerating. That way my squash mixture is the right size to plop in the middle of my pie crust.)
- Roll dough into a 13 to 14 inch circle.
- Put filing in the center of the dough leaving a 2 to 3 inch margin all around the filing.
- Fold the edges of the dough up to cover the filing, pleating as necessary.
- Whisk the oil into the beaten egg and brush the pastry with the egg mixture and bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
- Serves 6 as a main dish, 8 as a side dish.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Ege
About beets, do you have any recipes for simple cooking in an iron pan? ( I have no oven, only two plates… 🙂 )
Lois B
Ege – I have a lot of beet recipes. You can do a search in the box at the top right corner of my blog. I usually roast beets or buy jarred. You could certainly simmer them in a pan to cook.
As for this recipe, if you skipped the crust, I think you could make this in a pan. Simmering the beets to cook or starting off with jarred beets. My husband is trying to reduce carbs in his diet (I know the beets are still high), so I just put the filling in a small casserole dish for him. The beets, caramelized leeks, and cheese could all be warmed together in a pan.
I hope you find some recipes that will work in your kitchen!