Galettes are so much fun to make. They have crust similar to pie, but since they are free form it is a lot less effort. You still get the wonderful buttery, flaky crust, but in a more rustic form.
I have a couple other galette recipes on here you can also try. Spinach and Artichoke Galette or for a dessert version try this Strawberry Rhubarb Galette.
This version has layers of thinly sliced potatoes (use a mandonline for easy really thin potatoes), gruyere and blue cheese, bacon and onion. It was really delicious, especially served with a salad and some aged balsamic vinegar to help cut the richness. So yummy!
Like pie crust, galette dough is best made a day ahead and rested overnight in the fridge before using, so plan ahead for that. I love making it ahead because then when you want to make dinner, the dough is already ready to go. Galettes generally take about 45-60 minutes to cook, so plan for that too.
Potato, Bacon and Gruyere Galette
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 16 tbsp cold butter cubed
- 1/2 cup ice water give or take
For the filling:
- 3-4 small yukon gold potatoes peeled, thin sliced and soaking in water until ready to use
- 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles optional
- 6 strips cooked bacon chopped
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- salt and pepper
Instructions
For the dough:
- Make the dough the day before and cover in plastic wrap overnight in the fridge.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the cold cubed butter and using your fingers, work the dough into the flour mix until you have a coarse mixture that still has some pea sized lumps of butter. Handle the butter as little as possible because you want it stay cold.
- Once you have a coarse meal, drizzle over the ice water and toss with a fork. Push down on the crumbly mixture to see if it starts to clump together. If it doesn't add a little more water and try again. When it starts to clump, pour out onto a floured counter top and using a bench scraper or spatula, turn chunks of dough over onto itself and press down until you have formed a solid mass that still has visible butter chunks. It can still be slightly crumbly but you want it to all be sticking together.
- Form into a circle shape, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- When ready to proceed, unwrap and roll the dough out on a floured counter top into a large circle about 12 inches across. Roll around your rolling pin and transfer to a parchment lined back of a baking sheet. You won't be able to move the dough once it is filled so do this now. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
For the filling:
- Cook and chop the bacon. I use the oven to cook bacon because it is so much less messy. Put a tbsp of oil in a skillet and add the onions. Cook over medium high until they start to get some color on them, then set aside.
- Use a mandoline to thinly slice the potatoes and put them into cold water to soak until ready to use. When ready, take your sliced potatoes out of the water and dry them well.
- On the rolled out dough, make layers of potatoes, bacon, onions, rosemary, and both cheeses, leaving about 2-3 inches of dough around the outside of the circle to fold up. Fold the edge up, going around the circle one section at a time. You can brush with egg wash if you want a shiny crust. Slide baking sheet into the oven and bake for 40-60 minutes, rotating the pan every 20 or so, until the crust is a nice golden brown. The filling should be bubbling a bit and the cheese melted.
- Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before slicing and serve with aged balsamic to drizzle on.