I’ve been longing for this time of the year since it’s time for the heirloom tomatoes! IThese tomatoes are not common in the greek market, and I (thank God!) usually find some in the local farmer’s market. I love the smell of them and their exquisite taste.
There is nothing better than eating them raw,in a greek salad, but I finally wanted to use them in a recipe. I decided to make this very summery galette with heirloom tomatoes, feta and basil pesto with almonds.
I made the dough with whole wheat emmer flour. It is based in the recipe for dough brisee with olive oil, by Dina Nikolaou*. It came out very good, it opened very nicely on a sheet (with some caution, of course) and I was glad that the galette succeeded. This flour, having less gluten than all purpose flour, behaves differently. At the rolling of the dough and in the sealing of the galette it needs some attention, but it is really tasty and gives an earthier, more rustic flavor to the dough.
The almond pesto in this recipe is the one I have used in chilled leek and fennel soup. It matches perfectly!
Heirloom Tomato & Pesto Galette
- • 250 g whole wheat emmer flour
- • 100 g olive oil
- • 1/3 cup of milk
- • 1 egg, slightly beaten
- • ½ teaspoon of salt
- • 2 cups of fresh basil leaves
- • 1/3 cup roasted almonds
- • 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- • 2 cloves of garlic
- • ½ teaspoon of salt
- • 1/3 cup of olive oil
- • pepper
- • 350 g heirloom tomatoes, washed
- • ½ cup crumbled feta
- • 1 small onion, finely chopped
- • 1 egg, beaten
- • Salt, freshly ground pepper
- In a bowl, put the flour and the olive oil and rub it with our fingers to make it a crumbly mixture.
- Add the milk, egg and salt, mix and knead. It does not want a lot of kneading. Form the dough into a ball and wrap it with a cling film. Put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Cut tomatoes into slices of 0.5 cm thick and spread them on paper kitchen towel. Sprinkle with salt.
- In the meantime, prepare the pesto. Put the first 5 ingredients in the food processor’s bin and blend. Add olive oil gradually, ideally with the food processor running. Add pepper, and blend again. Transfer the pesto to a bowl, cover the surface with a cling film and store it in the refrigerator. (You can do it the day before).
- Prepare the rest of the materials.
- Preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
- Take the dough off the refrigerator and remove the cling film. Roll it on a flat floured surface, lined with parchment paper, in a circular sheet of about 28 cm in diameter.
- Spread half of the pesto over the dough, leaving about 2,5-3 cm rim.
- Place a layer of tomatoes on the pesto, sprinkle with half the onion and half the feta cheese. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients: pesto, tomatoes, onion, feta cheese.
- Carefully fold the edges of the dough to seal the galette. It is good to fold it using the parchment paper.
- Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Brush the dough with the beaten egg and transfer it to the baking sheet with the parchment paper. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.
- *From the book “Savory tarts and pies”, Dina Nikolaou, Kathimerini Publications, Athens 2009.
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