Easy Tomato Galette with Herbed Cream Cheese and Za'atar

This rustic tomato galette is the perfect way to use up those gorgeous summer heirloom tomatoes.

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I grow (and eat) a lot of 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 flavour 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!

I have a similar recipe that uses store bought puff pastry here.

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
• Salt
• Butter
• Ice water (will talk about that more a little later)

For the toppings:

• Heirloom tomatoes (you can also use standard tomatoes from the store, but they wont yield the same flavor)
• Herbed cream cheese (Boursin works well here)
• Thyme springs
• An egg yolk (for brushing your crust)
• Za'atar spice
• Salt and pepper

Once baked you can garnish your galette with fresh basil, parsley, olive oil. The choice is yours!

Preparing the galette dough

Let's take a look at the instructions:

1. 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.
2. With the processor running, stream in ice cold water slowly until your dough forms a ball.
3. 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.

When preparing the dough, it is important to follow these rules:

• 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 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.

The reason we want to keep the dough as cold as possible is because we want to preserve the small pieces of butter in tact. 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.

Allowing the crust to rest in the fridge before rolling out helps maintain the butter structure.

Preparing your ingredients

If we were to slice the tomatoes and plop them onto the raw dough as is and bake, we may end up with the dreaded soggy bottom. To avoid having soggy pastry, I recommend you slice your tomatoes and place them on paper towel for at least 20 minutes. The paper towel will draw out some of the excess moisture from the tomato slices.

I also recommend you take your cream cheese out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before you are going to use it.

Rolling out the galette dough

This is where things might get a little tricky. If you have never rolled out pastry dough before, I recommend you do it between 2 sheets of parchment. This helps you control the rolling motion and avoids getting the dough struck to your work surface.

Remove the rough from the fridge and unwrap it. Place the dough disk between 2 sheets of parchment and begin rolling out. It will be a bit difficult at first but as the dough warms up it'll be easier to roll.

The goal is to end up with a circle that is about 15 inches (38cm) in diameter and about ⅛-1/4" (.25-.5cm) thick. This doesn't have to be perfect. If you end up with an oval, that's ok too! This is a rustic galette. We're not building a rocket.

Once rolled out, remove the top layer of parchment and discard. Transfer your dough round and the parchment paper it is sitting on to a baking sheet.

Assembling and baking

This is where the fun begins. At this point, your cream cheese should be easy to spread. Using a knife or a small offset spatula, spread the cream cheese evenly on the dough round. Don't go all the way to the edge of the dough round. Leave about 1" (2cm) of dough uncovered with cheese.

Arrange your sliced and drained tomatoes as you wish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and add your thyme sprigs on top.

If we were to bake the galette as is, the cream cheese and tomato juices may flow over the sides. That is why we must fold or crimp the edge of the galette over itself to create a border that will hold all the ingredients in.

Brush your edges with egg yolk and sprinkle the Za'atar spice all over the edge. You can also sprinkle za'atar over your tomatoes if you wish.

Bake your galette at 400F (200C) for about 25-30 minutes. I would suggest you check on your galette at the 15 minute mark and keep checking to make sure it's not browning too quickly. Every oven is different and you must make the necessary adjustments as you see fit.

You will know when it is ready when the crust is nice and browned, the tomatoes have shrunk and you can see the cheese bubbling ever so slightly.

Variations

This recipe is quite adaptable. Here are some ideas for you to consider:

• Add the za'atar (or other spice blend) to the crust itself!
• Use cherry tomatoes instead of slicers
• Are you vegan? Use shortening instead of butter and replace the herbed cream cheese with a vegan alternative, or even just caramelized onions.

Let's get cooking!

Did you try this tomato galette recipe? Let us know what you think! Leave a comment below! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!