This Spring Veggie Galette is Perfect for Dinner
This is a deliciously golden, flaky pastry loaded with ricotta and spring vegetables including courgette, asparagus and fresh peas
- 300g wholewheat spelt flour
- Pinch of Maldon Salt
- 175g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 250g ricotta
- 1 lemon, zested
- Cracked black pepper
- 15g chives, finely chopped
- 15g fresh dill, finely chopped plus extra to garnish
- 1 large courgette, cut into thin slices lengthways
- 150g asparagus tips
- 75g fresh peas
- 1 egg, beaten
Start by making the wholewheat spelt pastry. In a large bowl mix together the spelt flour and Maldon Salt. Add the cold, cubed butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs – it is okay here to have a few larger lumps of butter as it is a rougher textured pastry. Once the butter is incorporated, make a well in the middle and add the beaten egg. Mix this in, along with one or two tablespoons of cold water to make it come together to form a smooth and slightly tacky dough.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for 40 minutes. While the dough is resting, prepare the fillings for the galette. In a small bowl mix together the ricotta, lemon zest, chopped chives and dill plus some cracked black pepper and Maldon Salt.
Heat a griddle pan and brush each side of the courgette slices with olive oil. When the pan is hot, grill the courgette slices on each side for one minute or so until they have nice char lines and have softened. Do this in batches and remove the slices from the pan as they are cooked onto a plate.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Once the dough has rested, remove it from the fridge and remove the clingfilm. Lightly dust a surface with flour and then roll the pastry out until it is roughly half a centimetre thick. The edges can remain fairly rustic as that is the style of this galette. Roll the pastry around your rolling pin and transfer onto a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Spread the ricotta mixture across the pastry, leaving a one inch gap around the edges. Top the ricotta with the fresh garden peas, and then scatter across the asparagus spears. Drizzle this with olive oil. Then carefully fold the edges of the pastry in and slowly crimp and fold as you work your way around. Brush the pastry edges with the beaten egg.
Place the galette in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the charred courgette slices to the top of the filling, giving them texture and shape by curling them amongst the peas and asparagus. Place the galette back in the oven for a further five to 10 minutes until the pastry is lightly golden brown and the courgette is warmed through.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle over some dill fronds, some cracked black pepper and some Maldon Salt.
