Butternut Squash, Sage and Cheddar Galette
How fancy does that sound? SO FANCY. And it’s yummy and delicious and not that much work, especially if you use a few shortcuts I’ll share. (For example, just the filling prepared in a baking dish is delicious on its own without the “galette” portion of the recipe.)
- 1/2 Basic Pie Dough Recipe (below, or – shortcut alert – buy premade pie dough)
- 1½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 1 medium-size red onion, chopped
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon cold water
The first thing I’ll tell you is to buy the pre-cut butternut squash. Peeling and cutting a butternut squash is no easy task and the pre-cut variety isn’t that much more expensive for the time and frustration you’ll save. If you want to save more time, you can also buy pre-shredded cheese. One place I would not cut corners is with the fresh sage — a dried spice will never give you the aromatic flavor of the fresh variety.
Next prepare your pie dough.
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- ¾ cup ice water
Mix the flour and salt together in a medium-large bowl. Using a pastry blender or two forks, incorporate the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal (you should still have some rather large bits of butter when you’re done). Slowly drizzle in the ice water. Stir with a large spoon until the dough begins to clump. Transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and, using your hands, fold it into itself until all of the flour is incorporated into the fats. Divide the dough in half, shape it into two balls, and pat each ball into a ½-inch thick disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
To prepare the crust remove the chilled pie dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the dough to a large un-rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Or, unroll your store-bought dough.
For the filling, combine squash, onion, sage, olive oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Using clean hands or a large spoon, toss until well mixed and the squash cubes and onion are well coated with the olive oil and sage.
Mound the squash mixture in the middle of the chilled pastry circle. Gently spread the mixture out toward the edge of the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold the pastry border up over the filling, overlapping the edges and pressing the folds together every few inches. Whisk the egg yolk and water in a small bowl, then use a pastry brush to brush the wash over the folded edges of the crust. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the squash cubes are tender when pierced with a fork.
This recipe is from A Year Of Pies by Ashley English.
