Creamy Cauliflower Galette

Here's a fabulous vegetarian dish from Alison Roman's book Sweet Enough.  You guessed it!  Another recipe for Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club.  I confess now: I did not use her pastry recipe.  She says she includes it in all her cookbooks.  Sorry, Alison.  I go for an easier method, and chuck it in the food processor, à la Maggie Beer.  I adapted Maggie's recipe slightly to include vodka, lemon juice and salt to the dough.

Speaking of vodka - I don't drink anymore but I had to buy a bottle of vodka on the weekend for my vanilla extract.  Did vodka always smell like methylated spirits, I wonder?  I have a jar of vanilla beans in vodka lurking on my pantry shelf; I realised the other day that it must be about eight years old!  I feed the "mother" a couple of times a year with more beans and more vodka, but clearly I've been doing a lot of baking 'cos I had to feed her again the other day.  That vodka bottle is going to sit there for another six months I guess ...

golden-brown, crunchy, savoury ...

    

Makes 1 large pizza-tray size (about 25cm./10 inch)

ingredients:

For the pastry:

250g. plain flour

200g. butter, chilled and diced

125 mL sour cream/yoghurt

1 tsp vodka

1-2 tsp lemon juice

a big pinch of sea salt flakes

For the filling:

approx. 350-380g. (12.5 oz to 13.5 oz) cauliflower - trimmed and sliced lengthwise into 6 mm/¼ inch thickness, through the core

1 medium leek or one bunch of spring onions, sliced thinly

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

115g./4 oz parmesan, grated (or cheese of your choice)

2 Tbs EV olive oil

120 mL/4 oz thickened cream (35% fat)

2 Tbs cream or milk, for brushing the pastry   see Notes

more black pepper

herbs - your choice, but I used parsley and chives

Method:

Pastry:

Chuck the flour and butter into your food processor, and blitz till you have fine breadcrumbs

Spoon in the sour cream/yoghurt and blitz some more till you just start to get a ball forming, then add the vodka, lemon juice and salt and blitz a wee bit more to incorporate them

Take the dough out of the processor, shape into a ball, grab some plastic wrap, swaddle it and put into the fridge for 20 minutes to restore its calm

Putting the galette together:

On goes your oven to 190C/375F

Line your baking tray with baking paper

Take your calm, rested dough and roll it out on a lightly-floured bench/surface till you have a 35cm/14 in. circle then carefully place it onto the lined tray   see Notes

Now leave a 5cm/2 in. border, scatter the sliced cauliflower and leek/spring onions over the dough, adding plenty of salt and pepper as you go

Then you add the cheese and olive oil over the veg., and fold up the edges of the pastry so it forms a lovely little border  see Photos

Now you pour the cream over the whole shebang, plus you drizzle a wee bit more olive oil too

Grab your pastry brush and give the pastry a good swish all over with the extra cream or milk

Add more black pepper if you wish

Bake for 55-65 minutes, turning the tray around halfway thru the baking

It will be golden-brown and beautiful! with tender cauliflower

Throw on some chopped herbs if you fancy, to serve

Eat with salad or veg., or cold the next day - great picnic food

Notes:

The easiest way to get the pastry onto the baking tray is to place the tray upside down over the rolled-out pastry which is sitting on a piece of baking paper (and has already been rolled out on a cutting board), then flip it over so the baking paper and pastry are now facing the right way up    see Photo 

Alison suggests brushing the pastry edges with an egg wash, but I've never seen the need to waste an egg for this purpose

blitz that dough in the processor

pat into a circle of dough, and roll out on the board

place the tray upside-down over the rolled-out dough and baking paper, then flip!

cauli and spring onions scattered over

ready for the oven at 190C/375F for about an hour

looking crispy and delicious

c. Sherry M.