This rustic tomato galette is the perfect way to use up those gorgeous summer heirloom tomatoes. A recipe that comes together in no time and can be customized to suit your taste!
I grow (and eat) a lot of summer tomatoes! Nothing screams summer more than a ripe, juicy, sweet and tangy tomato. The possibilities are endless. Salads, pies, sandwiches and sauces. Although I enjoy the raw and fleeting flavor of a vine-ripened tomato, I also enjoy baking them to concentrate their flavor and this tomato galette is the perfect summer treat!
This recipe is quite adaptable and I'll talk about that in more detail later on so let's get cracking! If you’re looking for an even easier recipe, check out my Puff Pastry Tomato Tart.
Equipment you will need for this tomato galette recipe
This recipe doesn't require much in terms of kitchen equipment. Really, all you need is a food processor to make the galette dough, however, even that's not necessary. I recommend using the food processor because we want to ensure that the butter in the dough remains as cold as possible. If we use our hands, the heat generated will soften the butter.
Cold butter equals more flakiness, which is what we want from our galette crust. If you do not have access to a food processor, you can use a large bowl and cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter.
Ingredients you will need
For the galette crust itself, you will need:
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Butter
- Ice water (will talk about that more a little later)
For the toppings:
- Ripe heirloom tomatoes (you can also use standard ripe tomatoes from the store, but they won't yield the same flavor)
- Herbed cream cheese (Boursin works well here)
- Thyme springs
- An egg yolk (for egg wash)
- Za'atar spice
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Once baked you can garnish your galette with fresh herbs, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, and/or parmesan cheese. The choice is yours!
Ingredient notes and Substitutions
- All-purpose flour: You can certainly use all white flour here or a combination of white and whole wheat. If you do plan to use some whole-wheat flour, only substitute about ¼ of the white.
- Butter: This recipe is not vegan, but if you wish to make a substitution here you can use vegetable shortening instead.
- Heirloom tomatoes: Well, this wouldn’t be an heirloom tomato galette if you didn’t use large beautiful slicer tomatoes. You can also use cherry tomatoes in this recipe if you wanted to.
- Herbed cream cheese: I use Boursin. It’s readily available, affordable and easy to work with. However, feel free to try out a different brand or make your own. You can also use creamy goat cheese. Vegan Boursin is also available.
- Za’atar Spice: This is one of those touches that I think give this recipe some character. If you don’t have za’atar feel free to use something a different herb blend or omit it entirely.
How to Make this tomato Galette
Prepare the galette dough
- In a food processor, add flour, salt and cubed butter. Pulse until you get a crumbly texture where the butter is about the side of a pea.
- With the processor running, stream in ice cold water slowly until your dough forms a ball.
- Remove the dough ball from the processor and form into a disk about 1" (2cm) thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preparing your ingredients
- While your dough is resting in the fridge, cut your beautiful heirloom tomatoes into ¼" (0.5cm) slices. Place sliced tomatoes on paper towels to absorb excess moisture. This will help make sure we don't end up with a soggy galette. Allow your tomatoes to drain on the paper towel for at least 20 minutes.
- Take your herbed cream cheese out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
Rolling out the galette dough
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200c).
- Roll out your galette dough between two pieces of parchment paper using a rolling pin. The goal is to end up with a circle that is about 15" (38cm) and about ⅛" (.25cm) thick. This doesn't have to be exact. Rustic is fine!
- Once your galette dough is rolled out, remove the top layer of parchment and transfer the dough with the lower piece of parchment to a baking sheet or sheet pan.
- Spread the herbed cream cheese evenly on your dough, leaving about 1" (2cm) around the border uncovered and arrange your tomato slices as you wish. Season your tomatoes with kosher or sea salt and pepper. Add thyme sprigs on top of the tomatoes.
- Carefully crimp or fold the edge of the galette dough over itself to create a nice border that will hold in the ingredients as they bake. Brush the crimped crust with egg yolk and sprinkle with za'atar spice.
Bake and Garnish
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven. Since every oven is different you may need to adjust the temperature or time.
- Once finished baking (or when the crust is golden brown), remove from oven and allow to the galette to cool for 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and good extra virgin olive oil.
Make ahead and Storage
The dough can certainly be made ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months. Make sure to defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator overnight before you use it.
Galette leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Expert Tips
- Keep the butter cold. Your butter should be really cold and cut into small pieces. If your butter softens when you cut it up, place it back in the fridge so that it can harden again.
- Ice water! Ice water is used to bring the dough together. I recommend you fill a cup with ice and then add water to it. As you're bringing the dough together you can stream in the water while holding the ice back.
- Allowing the crust to rest in the fridge before rolling out helps maintain the butter structure.
FAQ
In order to get a crispy and flaky crust, the butter should be really cold. The reason we want to keep the dough as cold as possible is because we want to preserve the small pieces of butter intact. When the galette hits the hot oven, the butter melts and creates steam which puffs up the pastry, creating a delicious flaky crust, which is what we want.
Other baking recipes you’ll love
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Heirloom Tomato Galette with Herbed Cheese and Za'atar
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
For the galette crust
- 1 ½ cups (180g) All Purpose Flour
- 10 tbsp (140g) Cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 tsp (5g) Kosher salt
- Ice water
For the Assembly
- 4-5 Heirloom Tomatoes
- 5.2 oz. (150g) Herbed cream cheese - Like Boursin
- 1 Egg yolk - For brushing
- 1-2 tbsp Za'atar spice - More or less to taste
- 4-5 Thyme Sprigs
- Salt and Pepper
Garnish
- Basil leaves
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
Make galette crust
- In a food processor, add flour, salt and cubed butter. Pulse until you get a crumbly texture where the butter is about the side of a pea.
- With the processor running, stream in ice cold water slowly until your dough forms a ball.
- Remove the dough ball from the processor and form into a disk about 1" (2cm) thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Prepare your ingredients
- While your dough is resting in the fridge, cut your heirloom tomatoes into ¼" (0.5cm) slices. Place sliced tomatoes on paper towel to absorb excess liquid. This will help make sure we don't end up with a soggy galette. Allow your tomatoes to drain on the paper towel for at least 20 minutes.
- Take your herbed cream cheese out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
Assemble your galette
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200c).
- Roll out your galette dough between two pieces of parchment paper using a rolling pin. The goal is to end up with a circle that is about 15" (38cm) and about ⅛" (.25cm) thick. This doesn't have to be exact. Rustic is fine!
- Once your galette dough is rolled out, remove the top layer of parchment and transfer the dough with the lower piece of parchment to a baking sheet.
- Spread the herbed cream cheese evenly on your dough, leaving about 1" (2cm) around the border uncovered.
- Arrange your tomato slices as you wish and season your tomatoes with salt and pepper. Add thyme sprigs on top of tomatoes.
- Carefully crimp or fold the edge of the galette dough over itself to create a nice border that will hold in the ingredients as they bake.
- Brush the crimped crust with egg yolk and sprinkle with za'atar spice.
Bake and Garnish
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven. Since every oven is different you may need to adjust the temperature or time.
- Once finished baking, remove from oven and allow to the galette to cool for 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and good extra virgin olive oil.
Susan Opperman
I’ve made this galette many times this summer. It’s a well written recipe, and looks and tastes great. It’s always a crowd pleaser, and very easy to make.
Luay
Thanks Susan.