Circle B Kitchen
While the directions for this galette might look rather long and tedious, it really is pretty easy to put together. Like the Italian crostata, a galette is meant to be rustic and free-form, so don’t worry about it being too perfect. I used my homemade pie crust, but you can certainly use store bought or a thawed sheet of puff pastry. Any mushrooms will do in this, but I like the more flavorful crimini, chanterelle and shitake. As for the herbs, use what is readily available to you – dried sage and thyme would be fine too.
Serves 6-8 as an appetizer
½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup boiling water
1 small-ish onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ tablespoons butter
10 oz mushrooms (any mix you like), cleaned and sliced (see headnote)
1 tablespoon butter,
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) (see headnote)
1 to 2-oz blue cheese, crumbled
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 9-inch pie crust dough (see headnote)
1 egg, beaten with a little water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Melt the 1 ½ tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a 9 or 10- inch skillet and then add the sliced onions. Saute until they start to take on some color and then lower the heat under the skillet to sort of a medium low heat. Let the onions continue to cook and brown for about 20 to 25 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so. The onions should be a dark golden brown when they’re done. If it seems to be taking too long for them to brown, increase the heat a little. When they’re done, remove to a plate to cool.
While the onions are cooking, place the dried mushrooms into the boiling water, pushing them down to make sure they’re all submerged. Let these soak for about 15 to 20 minutes and then drain. You can reserve the liquid for stock or soup if you like. Chop the mushrooms and set aside.
Melt the 1 tablespoon of butter with the tablespoon of olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over high heat and add the sliced fresh mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until they are softened and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the herbs, a sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh black pepper and sauté another 5 minutes. There should be no excess liquid in the pan. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Place the mushrooms on a plate to cool and mix with the softened dried porcinis.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Roll out the pie dough to an 11 or 12 –inch circle and place on the parchment paper. Place the mushrooms in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 ½ to 3-inch border all the way around. Top the mushrooms with the caramelized onions and then fold the pie dough towards the center, overlapping where necessary. The mushrooms should be exposed in the center.
Brush the crust with the beaten egg and a sprinkling of kosher salt and place the galette in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is just golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the galette with the blue cheese and any fresh herbs that you might have leftover. Slice and serve immediately.