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Tomato and Goats' Cheese Galettes
Galettes are very thin discs of flaky pastry which, unlike conventional tarts, have no sides. The concept is a good one because the pastry is barely there, yet it gives a light, very crisp background to all kinds of toppings, both savoury and sweet. There's no limit to what you can put on top of them – the combinations are endless, and you can serve them for a light lunch, as a first course, on a picnic or for a dessert. What I often do is freeze the pastry circles raw, interleaved with foil or greaseproof paper, so you can just whip some out for an impromptu meal any old time at all. If you don't have the right-sized cutter, just cut around a saucer of the same size.
This galette recipe calls for lovely ripe red tomatoes for colour, and the preferred cheese in our house is Crottin de Chavignol, but any firm goats' cheese will do.
Serves 3 as a light lunch or 6 as a first course
Ingredients
12 medium tomatoes
7 oz (200 g) firm goats' cheese
10 oz (275 g) Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry (click here for recipe)
a little flour for dusting
18 large basil leaves, plus 6 sprigs for garnish
a little olive oil, for drizzling
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C).
You will also need 2 solid baking sheets measuring 14 x 11 inches (35 x 28 cm), lightly greased, and a 6 inch (15 cm) plain pastry cutter.
Make the pastry and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, you need to skin the tomatoes, so pour boiling water over them and leave for exactly 1 minute before draining and slipping off the skins (protect your hands with a cloth if they are too hot). Next, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry very thinly to 1/8 inch (3 mm), cut out six 6 inch (15 cm) discs and place these on the baking sheets.
Now scatter the large basil leaves over the pastry, tearing them first if they're very large. Next, thinly slice the tomatoes and arrange them in circles overlapping each other on top of the basil. Peel the goats' cheese and crumble it over the tomatoes, then pour some olive oil on to a saucer and dip the reserved basil leaves in it, placing one on each tart. Then season well and drizzle each one with a little extra olive oil. Now bake the galettes in the oven, one tray on a high shelf, the other on the next one down, for 10-12 minutes or until the tomatoes are tinged brown and the cheese is bubbling, swapping the baking sheets over halfway through. Serve warm straight from the oven, or they're still excellent cold, cooled on a wire tray.
This recipe is taken from Delia’s Vegetarian Collection.
Other recipes to look at:
