Sunday, July 11, 2010

Three Cheese and Zucchini Galette

So this is the recipe I made that ricotta for.  It was so good!  Extremely buttery.  The crust of the edges was the perfect amount of buttery, but the underneath was a bit too much.  But I would be afraid that the edges wouldn't be as good if I decreased the butter.
This was one of those recipes where I thought it was a failure when it was in the oven.  I took it out, and there was a pool of liquid around the edges.  I'm not sure if it was juice from the zucchini, olive oil seeping out, or just all of that butter.  Whatever it was though, after 5-10 minutes out on the counter, it disappeared! The crust just soaked it all up.  (See pics below if you don't believe me.)
The cheeses worked together really well - the ricotta made it really light, and it got melty from the other two.
I wish I put more of the zucchini on.  I didn't roll the crust thin enough (I had a few issues with it), so I didn't have as much room for the zucchini, and I always forget how much vegetables cook down.  I ended up with a lot of leftover zucchini that I just snacked on.  Next time I'll pile them on.  This happens whenever I make any kind of pie - I think the filling is going to overflow.

Three Cheese and Zucchini Galette (from Smitten Kitchen):
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced and then chilled again
1/4 cup sour cream (I didn't have any, so I used greek yogurt)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Topping:
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water

Directions:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the butter over the combination, and cut in with a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with small pieces of butter.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream (or yogurt), water and lemon juice, and add to the butter/flour mixture.
Mix in the liquid to the dry using a wooden spoon until large lumps form.  Dump out on a piece of plastic wrap, and form into a disc - don't overwork the dough.  Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Spread the zucchini out over several layers of paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 30 minutes.    Blot the top of the zucchini with a paper towel before using.
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and garlic together, set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix the cheeses and 1 tsp of the garlicky olive oil together, season to taste with s&p, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 F.  On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough to a 12-inch round.  Spread the cheese mixture over it, leaving a 2-inch border.  Spread out the zucchini in overlapping concentric circles, starting from the outside.  Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the filling.  Fold the border over the filling.    Brush the crust with the egg yolk.
Place the parchment paper with the galette on a cookie sheet, and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden, the cheese is bubbling, and the zucchini has wilted.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve.

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