A galette is a flat, round, free form, single crust, rustic like tart. It can be sweet or savory. I concocted this recipe because I had several things in my frig that I wanted to use…pie dough, leeks and cambozola cheese! I also had some tomatoes and thought that they would add a wonderful flavor to the rest of the combination.
You can make this with pre-made pie dough, or make your own. It would also be real good with puff pastry or a pizza dough, or even layered phyllo dough…pick your base!
Whenever using leeks, you should cut off the real green parts at the top and make sure you clean them well since sand tends to be all up in the layers, since they are grown in sandy soil…but don’t throw the green parts away. Wash them well and throw them in a pot of water, about 8 cups, with a halved onion, some celery, a carrot, salt and peppercorns and simmer away for about an hour to make a flavorful veggie broth that can be used in soups or other dishes that call for a broth/liquid.
Have you heard of cambozola cheese? I LOVE it. It’s the baby of gorgonzola blue cheese and brie! You get that beautiful creamy texture, as in brie, with that pungent flavored cheese as in the blue cheese. If you love those cheeses you will definitely love cambozola! Of course, you can substitute any easy melting cheese for the cambozola, such as gouda, fontina, gruyere, goat cheese or feta, if you aren’t a fan of it or if you don’t have easy access to it.
You will need:
- 1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 6 ounces Cambozola cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 leeks, dark green parts removed, cut in half longways, washed well between layers & sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Pinch of salt & pepper, to taste
- 20 grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 rounds of store bought pie dough, or make your own or use puff pastry
- Olive oil, to brush on dough before baking
Steps:
- Make bechamel by melting butter on medium low heat then adding flour to it to make a roux, combine well with a whisk, and let cook for 20 seconds.
- Slowly pour in milk as you whisk, you want to make sure that you work out any lumps.
- Simmer, as you stir, until the sauce thickens…you can check it by coating the back of a spoon and draw a line with your finger…if the sauce, around the line, stays on the spoon it is good. Sauce should not be too thick…more like a smooth and creamy cake batter.
- Turn off heat and add 4 oz of the cambozola cheese, stir to melt.
- Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, set aside to slightly cool.
- On medium heat, saute the leeks in the olive oil with a pinch or two of salt and some pepper, until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Time to assemble. Roll out dough on parchment paper covered sheet pan.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the bechamel sauce on the dough.
- Add 1/2 of the sauteed leeks on top of the sauce, followed by half of the halved tomatoes, and a few small pieces of cambozola scattered throughout the galette.
- Sprinkle with some freshly ground black pepper and fold ends in to make about an inch border.
- Brush olive oil around the dough border and repeat with the second dough. You will have some of the sauce left, about 1/2 a cup…you can use it on top of a steak or slathered on bread and baked for a form of cheese bread…OR you can stir in some chopped artichoke hearts and top with some Parmesan cheese and bake it to make a dip and serve with crostini.
- Bake at 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and top is slightly bubbly.
- Garnish galette with some more cambozola, if you like, and serve with a green salad. Enjoy!
Kali Orexi!
