Harvest Pumpkin Apple Galette...

Sometime last week I saw an item listed on a menu that really intrigued me. It was a Squash and Apple Galette. I’ve only eaten a Galette once. I made one a few months ago and it was delicious, delicious enough to make me wonder why I’d never made one before, and delicious enough to make me want to try my hand at making one again. As I looked over the ingredients listed in the menu for this particular galette my salivary glands started dripping. Butternut Squash, Apples, Onions, Spices and Parmesan. Minus the parm that sounded pretty damn good. It sounded warm and comforting and autumnal, and really who doesn’t love anything baked inside a crust? Looking over the menu I thought, ‘I could make that.’ and so a few days later - armed with nothing but a few vague ideas - I did just that.

As it turns out though I didn’t have any butternut squash, I did however have two beautiful sugar pumpkins that I’d bought in a moment of inspiration and then never used. I wanted to - no I needed to - use them, and since I like pumpkin, and sugar pumpkins are naturally a little sweeter like a butternut squash I didn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be just as delicious in my Galette. Apples and onions of course I had and so the only thing left to decide was the spices. The menu had been vague on that account, but that was okay, I’m good with spices. After a few minutes thought I decided to go with a subtle Middle Eastern flavor, with a French twist. These two seemingly distinct and different flavors actually paired quite well together, who would have thought?

Now I hate to break a bit of bad news but the night I made this I was in a bit of a hurry and I didn’t exactly measure any of the spices. I added what I thought would be good, taste tested it and adjusted as needed. I hadn’t originally intended to post this recipe on the blog as I wasn’t sure if it would even be any good - in fact I was expecting it to be a fail - but it far exceeded my expectations. This was so phenomenal that I knew I would have to post it and so I’ll try to give you an approximate. I would suggest maybe half to one full tsp of smoked paprika, Rosemary, and Coriander. And a quarter to half a tsp of cinnamon and ginger, or something there about. You want all the flavors to blend together you don’t want any one flavor to overpower the others. You want enough cinnamon and ginger to be able to taste them but not enough so that it’s all you taste. Same with the paprika and coriander you want enough to taste them fully, but not enough that your entire galette is ruined by them. Go with your gut and you’ll be alright I think.

This turned out so well in fact that I can’t wait to make another galette! Enjoy!

Galette Dough 

2 ½ Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 C Whole Wheat or Whole Wheat Pastry flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 - 1 ½ tsp Sea Salt
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary minced finely
! C Vegetable Shortening (Earth Balance Shortening is what I used)
3/4 C Ice Water or as needed
Olive Oil for Brushing
Sea Salt, Black Pepper and Basil to taste

Pumpkin Apple Filling

2 Small-Medium Sized Sugar Pumpkins (Pie Pumpkins)
2 Granny Smith Apples
1 Large Yellow Onion Diced
8 Garlic Cloves Minced
Smoked Paprika
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Coriander
Ground Ginger
Fresh Minced Rosemary
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1-2 dashes of Dried Basil
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1-2 Tbsp Lemon Flavored Olive Oil (or a mixture of Olive Oil and Pure Lemon Juice)
1-2 Tsp Olive Oil

I served our galette with a side of Terry Waters Fingerling Potatoes with
Red Onion and Sage from "Clean Start" which were very good!

To Make the Dough 

- In a food processor combine the flours, salt, sugar, and rosemary. Pulse to combine.

- Cut the Shortening into the food processor with a knife in small dice. Then pulse until the dough becomes pebbly and crumbly.

- Add in the ice water a little at a time, 1-2 Tbsp at a time, and pulse until the dough just holds together. You may need to add more water or use less. Do not over process.

- Form dough into a disk wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 20 minutes

- Lightly oil a 12 to 14 inch pizza pan. Remove dough from fridge and roll out onto a floured surface. Roll out into a circle big enough to fit your pan with some dough hanging over the edges. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle. Thickness should be between 1/4 -1/2 inch.

- Carefully transfer dough to the pizza pan and brush lightly with olive oil.


To Make the Filling 

- Preheat Oven to 400'F

- Cut Pumpkins, Remove seeds, Peel and cut into cubes.

- Toss pumpkin with the lemon olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Roast in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes until pumpkin is tender.

- Set aside and let cool.

- Heat 1-2 tsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until onion is translucent and just beginning to caramelize. About 10-15 minutes.

- Peel, and dice apples.

- Once onions have cooked, add the roasted pumpkin and the diced apples to the pan, stir to combine. Season to taste with fresh Rosemary, smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger. Stir to combine.

- Add in the maple syrup and Dijon Mustard and stir again to combine. Remove from heat and let cool while you make the dough.

Assembly 

Preheat oven to 375"F

- Scrape your pumpkin apple filling onto the dough lined Pizza pan. Spreading the filling out evenly to the edges of the pan with the back of a spoon or spatula.

- Carefully fold over any excess dough hanging off the edges of your pizza pan. Folding them into a rustic looking shape and leaving the middle open.

- Brush the folded dough lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, and a little dash of dried basil.

- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the crust is lightly brown.

And of course no dinner is complete without dessert. This is Isa and Terry's
She's my Cherry Pie from "Vegan Pie in the Sky"

PS: I know there are quite a few steps involved here, but this can be super simple to make if you do a little work in advance. You can roast your pumpkin a day ahead and even make the dough a day ahead leaving it wrapped in plastic until ready to use.