Pear & Goats Cheese Galette
I love this galette recipe. What’s great about a savoury galette is you can vary the ingredients to what’s in season and never really go wrong. There’s something utterly delicious about the short, flaky, buttery pastry. In this recipe I’ve topped it with goats cheese, local pears, jamón, macadamia, thyme, basil and a drizzle of honey.
It’s a dish that flirts equally with being sweet and savoury, summery and autumnal, where salt and sugar and fat weave their magic together.
For a wine pairing, I’m thinking a crisp and delicious Adelaide Hills semillon / sauvignon blanc or a riesling with a touch of residual sugar.
INGREDIENTS:
Pastry:
• 120gm unsalted butter
• 200gm plain flour, or soft pastry flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling:
• 1 small jar marinated goats cheese
• 100gm Iberico Jamon
• 2 small pears
• Macadamias, coarsely chopped
• Fresh basil & thyme
• Drizzle of honey
METHOD:
For the galette pastry
An hour before you’re ready to start, cut your butter into small 1cm x 1 cm cubes and place butter into the freezer. Add flour and salt to the food processor and whizz briefly. Take the butter from the freezer and add to the food processor. Blitz with a dash of very cold water until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Bring the dough together on the bench once everything has mixed together, with some flour, and knead briefly. Wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for an hour.
For the filling
Slice your pears into thin, even wedges. Have your marinated goats cheese and hazelnuts ready.
After an hour, take it out, and roll the pastry so that it’s quite thin, maybe half a centrimetre. Roll to the size of your tray, roughly 20cm x 20cm. Spread the goats cheese over the pastry (leaving a 3cm or so border), place the pear on top and sprinkle with nuts. Before baking, fold the edge of the pastry border over. Brush with egg.
Add to a hot oven (180-200, depending on the fan and age) and if possible, slide onto baking paper / a pizza stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp around the edges.
Add jamon, basil and drizzle with honey and olive oil. Serve immediately.
