Sausage Galette with Zucchini, Squash, Caramelized Onions & Sundried Tomatoes

So the other week, a recipe for a galette popped into my email. Hmmmm…I thought….I haven’t made one of those before. I’ve made pies and quiches and a flat apple tart which employ the same crust idea but this was a tad bit different. I had a few people ask me what a galette even was, so here’s a quick run down.

Typically, a galette is a flat piece of dough that is rolled out (and tastes very much like a pie crust) that can be topped with sweet or savory items. The edges are left free of ingredients (much like you would do when making a pizza) and are then rolled over the ingredients an inch or two.

The great things about galettes is you don’t have to worry about being fancy. The more rustic the better. You could go in so many directions…a blueberry lemon galette or one stuffed with leeks, cheese and potatoes.  A homemade apple galette with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream or one stuffed with swiss chard, mushrooms, garlic and ricotta. See? Feel free to use this idea as a base and fill it with whatever you desire. That’s what I did! So I will include the original recipe below with my additions noted.

Ingredients, for the dough:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup cold water (you may not end up using the full amount)
• Egg wash (one egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water)

Ingredients, for the filling:

• 8 oz. sausage, slightly cooked to render the fat (I used two large mild sausage links)
• 1 small zucchini sliced  (I used half a zucchini and half a yellow squash)
• 1/2 sliced onion (original recipe doesn’t call for this but I added it, caramelized with butter in a pan first)
• sun-dried tomatoes chopped (original recipe doesn’t call for this, I probably did 1/2 cup chopped)
• 1/2 cup ricotta (I used a sprinkling of romano/parmesan/asiago blend and some brie cheese I found in the refrigerator but I think the ricotta would be great, you really want a cheese that is going to melt well, the romano/parm/asiago blend was tasty but not exactly “melty” which is where the brie cheese came in to assist)
• 3-4 sprigs fresh sage (I used about a tablespoon chopped thyme instead)
•  salt, to taste
• fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

First up, make the crust. This comes together very quickly! In a bowl pinch together the flour, sugar, salt and butter with your fingertips until the bits of butter are broken up and almost pea size. Incorporate enough of the cold water into the dough until it forms a ball. I ended up using the full 1/4 cup. Scrape up any flour leftovers in the bowl and roll everything together. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

While the dough is chilling, time to work on your filling. I caramelized one half of a yellow onion in butter and pepper. I then added in my chopped zucchini and squash and cooked that for another five minutes or so. Lastly, I threw in the sun-dried tomatoes and turned off the heat.

At the same time, I lightly cooked and broke up my two sausage links (removing the casings). I was careful not to cook them all the way as everything will to cook in the oven.

Once your fillings are ready, it’s time to roll out the dough and assemble.

On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a circle about 12″ in diameter. I think mine was a tad bit smaller, but it still managed to fit everything just fine. Then roll the dough back up around the rolling pin so you can unroll it onto the sheet pan to transfer it.

The original recipe says to layer the ricotta, sausage, zucchini and sage evenly to within about 2 inches of the edge of the crust. I did the same only using my ingredients of sausage, zucchini, squash, caramelized onions, sundried tomatoes, thyme and asiago/parmesan/romano blend and about 1/2 cup of brie chopped into bite size pieces. Add some salt and pepper to the top. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling. Finally, brush with the egg wash.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes (I’d start checking around the 40 min. mark depending on your oven) rotating the pan about halfway through as it bakes. You want the crust to be golden and the bottom to be cooked all the way through.

Serve warm or at room temperature. I actually preferred this room temperature. Heck, the next day I even ate a slice cold out of the refrigerator and it was equally delicious. This recipe was easy enough to attempt on a weeknight and super tasty.

The crust was golden and flaky and just like a homemade savory pie crust should taste. The caramelized onions were probably my favorite ingredient in this recipe. Next time I think I’d make it completely vegetarian…thinking of adding some kale to as well.

Play around with it and try whatever you have in your fridge that you think might taste good together. You can’t really go wrong. Enjoy and Happy Eating!