Tomato Galette
Green Tomatoes are a southern delicacy that… frankly, don’t make a lot of sense. It seems an irrevocable fact that the pinnacle, peak of tomato excellency should be the point that they are perfectly ripened. Right? Right?? And green tomatoes don’t even make the most of an overripe tomato situation in the way that if you had overripe bananas you might make banana bread. Nope. “Green tomatoes” mean plucking a tomato that’s kind of sour and crunchy while it’s still waiting to develop all of those sugars and is still well, green.
It’s worth noting that as we enter in the glorious century of widely available rainbow carrots and carnival bell peppers, there are varieties of tomatoes that retain their green color even when they fully ripen. These are not the tomatoes we’re talking about though- these are straight out of Penny’s garden, genuine underripe tomatoes that are tart, fresh, and vegetal.
So what flavors go best with green tomatoes? Chef Jeff went with our Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning and it felt like it could have been tailor made for this dish. The flavors were smoky, savory, and a little garlicky in a way that allowed the tomatoes to be bright without feeling too sour or bitter. In addition to the beauty of not anguishing over the time spent fussing about whether or not you have a tomato that’s ripe enough, the pie crust for the galette base comes together in just a few minutes in the food processor rather than spending a half hour dirtying up your kitchen counter trying to contain all of your flour inside your designated “Big Bowl.” Like all pastry making, make sure you’re extremely specific about the temperature of your ingredients when making your crusts, namely that they’re cold, cold, COLD (seriously). Using extremely cold butter (in conjunction with extremely cold water so you don’t undermine it) means that you’ll get teeny tiny pieces of butter that will help your pastry taste flaky, and not crumbly. To complement the nuttiness in our Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning, Jeff layered a bit more sesame seeds onto the edges of our dough to give it a nice bit of extra flavor and crunch.
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 1 1/2 Cups all- purpose flour
- 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 4-6 Tbsp Cold water
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 lbs. Green tomatoes
- 4 oz. Queso Fresco cheese, crumbled
- 1 Tbsp Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning
- 1 tsp
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 3-4 Scallions, chopped for garnish
- In a food processor, combine flour, cracked black pepper and chilled butter cubes. Pulse until there are pea sized pieces. Add 1 Tbsp water at a time, while pulsing. It will take between 4-6 Tbsp for dough to form. Remove dough from processor, and shape into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. You may also do this ahead of time and chill overnight.
- Slice the green tomatoes 1/4 inch thick. Place on rack, or paper towels and sprinkle 1 tsp Kosher salt over them. Let drain for 30 minutes, and then pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- On a floured surface, roll out dough to approximately 13inch circle. Carefully place dough onto parchment paper (you may want to fold in half) and place on a baking sheet.
- Assemble galette. Layer tomatoes, leaving a half inch at edge of dough. Sprinkle Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning over tomatoes. Sprinkle crumbled cheese over top. Fold edges of dough over top the tomatoes. Brush crust of dough with beaten egg, and then top add sesame seeds.
- Place in oven and bake 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.
- Garnish with scallions and serve!
