Inspired by our last visit to Paris, here is our recipe for our own favorite savory galette. There are truly endless ways of preparing a filling for these galettes, only limited by what you have available at the moment. Since we find ourselves in the midst of Summer, tomatoes and herbs are generally readily available. Alas, our own garden was not as productive this year, due to the excessive heat and complete absence of any rain. We could only add a few small tomatoes from our own garden and purchased the rest.

During our visit to Paris, the savory galettes were intriguing, reminding us somewhat of German Salzkuchen, a Swabian specialty in the Southwestern part of Germany.  This dish is by no means even similar to a galette, since the crust is made with a yeasted dough, except for the filling, which consists of sour cream, salt, eggs and herbs, sometimes found in the savory galettes offered in the patisseries of Paris. International cuisines tend to mingle in the close proximity of borders, that have happened to change many times over the  last couple of hundred years. Each region tends to lay claim to a particular dish, or method of cooking, when, in reality, memories tend to blur, and creative cooks draw inspiration from many areas, across borders and cultural boundaries. So many of our own recipes reflect this, in that they incorporate the best of our own experiences. Learning to prepare our own family meals entirely gluten free, we again had to draw inspiration from a multitude of different sources, incorporating the aspect of nutritional balance, and yet keep alive a sense of simplicity and fun.

This recipe reflects both the simplicity of preparation and cultural diversity in the ingredients used, and the combination of flavors created. This recipe is gluten free but does contain dairy. If this presents a problem, there is the possibility of using  plain coconut yoghurt, as well as any of the dairy free cheeses available to you.

Savory Tomato Herb Galette:

Crust:

• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. rice bran
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. almond meal
• 1 tsp. evaporated cane juice
• 3 Tbsp. Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 Tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 7 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:

• 4-5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• leaves of 2-3 sprigs of fresh oregano
• 7-8 basil leaves, thinly sliced
• approx. 2 oz. mozzarella cheese, finely grated
• approx. 2 oz. raw cheddar cheese, finely grated
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp. Greek-style yoghurt

Preparation:

Place all the ingredients for the crust in a food processor and pulse until it forms into a ball. The dough will be very soft to the touch. This is normal.  Remove, cover in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and slice the tomatoes and chop the herbs. Set aside.

Grate the cheese and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg and the yoghurt, and whisk to a creamy consistency.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a larger size cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust the parchment covered cookie sheet with a little rice flour and roll the dough out directly on the parchment paper, into an approximately 12-13 inch circle.

Place the shredded cheese and herbs on top of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch edge free. Top with the sliced tomatoes, allowing the edges to overlap in concentric circles. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold in the edges of the crust over the outer edges of the tomatoes, making sure to smooth out any potential breaks in the dough where the filling could leak out. Now slowly pour the liquid egg/yoghurt filling over the tomatoes.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cheese filling has set.

Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting it with a pizza cutter. This makes four generous servings, if you are very hungry, and want to serve it as a dinner combined with a salad. This could serve as many as eight, i.e. as an appetizer, or as a small accompaniment to a meal.

Believe us when we tell you that this galette will disappear before your eyes, almost as quickly as you manage to slice it. It took extreme self-control to photograph it, since we made it on a day when all we had time to eat was a small breakfast that morning and this was dinner.

We served it alongside a large green Romaine salad, topped with shredded carrots, cabbage, small orange tomatoes, fresh apricots, sprinkled with a small amount of Parmesan cheese and tossed with a gluten free Balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Enjoy this simple, yet delicious, Internationally (German, French, Italian) inspired dish!