Friday 9 February 2024

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.

38 comments:

  1. My goodness, this galette looks really good!

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  2. This is a beauty! Cheers to more vanilla extract. Your post reminded me that I too, need to order some beans and purchase vodka for my vanilla stash.

    Velva

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    1. thanks Velva. I seem to go thru a lot of vanilla! and I even buy vanilla paste at times:)

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  3. Bet that eight years old vanilla extract is great! The savoury tart looks delicious, but I have to pass this one as my stomach doesn't agree well with vegetables. The less (or zero) veggies I eat, the better I feel, though I love them.

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    1. thanks Angie. The vanilla is good :) Oh no you can't eat veggies? That must be very restricting in your diet.

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  4. Wow! This could be a bread eaten with a salad or soup! Sounds wonderful!

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  5. I have never seen vodka added to a pizza crust! Great result!

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    1. I think I got the idea to add the vodka from David of Spiced blog. It did turn out very well.

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  6. Great tip about the pastry transfer. And like you, I seldom do an egg wash glaze. Is the vodka you bought proper vodka? I've heard of cane spirits being sold as vodka.
    from Tandy I Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com

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    1. hi Tandy
      not sure about the vodka! It says vodka so that's all i know :)

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  7. Well this looks absolutely delicious, Sherry! This is my kind of food - and I agree with you about always making your own pizza dough. I always use vodka in pie dough, but I've never tried it in pizza dough. Definitely putting this on the list. I bet it makes for a flaky and delicious crust. Thanks for the inspiration!!

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    1. thanks David. I do believe I got the idea to add vodka to the dough from you:) Just to be clear tho, this is not a pizza. Just in case you were thinking of making this recipe. I wouldn't want you to be disappointed thinking you'd end up with pizza!

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  8. Great to be able to comment after a horrid week dealing with Telstra Mumbai trying to get back on line > love the recipe in spite of all that cream! Altho' I originally came from the vodka-part of our globe in NE Europe I have never been particularly keen on it - Bloody Mary's on Sunday mornings excluded :) !!! However, wine I could never ever do without . . . !!! Oh, vodka in recipes is a natural!

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    1. oh no, always a pain trying to get on to a call centre and get them to help you! Glad you sorted it at last. I don't think it's too much cream considering it's only 120 mL and this galette will feed several (or more) people :=) We have to live a little ...

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  9. Aren't savoury pies and galettes the best?! This one looks absolutely delicious, and the filling is so hearty and inviting.

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  10. Aren't savoury pies and galettes the best?! This one looks absolutely delicious, and the filling is so hearty and inviting.

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    1. yes indeed. Thanks Ben. This galette was pretty tasty.

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  11. The cauliflower is such a great vegetable isn't it. This looks so delicious for a meat free dinner. I love a galette, and your pastry looks so good. I must buy some vodka and top up my vanilla essence as well. Your recipe would be so versatile for other veg a well.

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    1. Yes Daen suggests wedges of cabbage for this, too. She said it's delicious!

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  12. Looks like a great recipe - especially the cauliflower nom nom. You can always use the vodka for medicinal purposes haha

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    1. oh yes the cauli is delish. Vodka is weird stuff :)

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  13. Hi Sherry, this looks great, I have to try putting some Vodka in my dough. My vanilla extract is about 8 years old. Gerlinde @ sunnycovechef

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    1. I'm not sure what the vodka does but it's fun to do. The vanilla just gets better and better doesn't it? :)

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  14. First, thanks for your version of Maggie‘s pastry. I must give that a try! Second, we are huge cauliflower fans, and I can’t wait to give this a try. We are trying to eat vegetarian four or five nights a week, and I’m not finding it a challenge at all! There’s so much good vegetarian food out there. Thanks! David (C&L)

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    1. Hubby and I were vegos for a decade and it was never a problem :) And we still don't eat much meat. Yes Maggie's pastry is easy and delish.

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  15. This Creamy Cauliflower Galette recipe from Alison Roman's book sounds like a wonderful addition to any table. While Alison's pastry recipe is a staple, I liked that you've opted for a simpler method with a twist from Maggie Beer's recipe. Love it, cooked to perfection

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    1. yes it was a tasty dinner. And I did like the pastry; easy to make and good to eat.

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  16. That looks delicious! I've only ever seen apple galettes before but I love the substitution with all those veggies.

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    1. thanks Joanne. We really enjoyed this savoury version. I tend to prefer them over sweet :)

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