Creamy cauliflower galette

This recipe is an edited extract from Sweet Enough: A Baking book by Alison Roman, published by Hardie Grant books. Cauliflower is an ideal candidate for a savoury galette. It's low in moisture, roasting to an evenly golden brown in sync with the crunchy, buttery crust. It never becomes soggy, is great at room temperature, and can handle a healthy amount of cheese without disappearing into the background.

Creamy cauliflower galette Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1:05 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

 This is the galette you make when you need something substantial and comforting, don't feel like eating meat, and have had too much pasta or are sick of beans. While this certainly could be served as your full dinner, I also like the idea of slicing it thinly and enjoying it as a pre-dinner snack, next to a little dish of olives and some hard, salty cheese. I have it on good authority (because I did it) that this also works with wedges of cabbage (about 2.5 cm) in place of cauliflower – highly recommended.

Ingredients

• 1 disc The Only Pie Crust dough
• 350 g cauliflower, sliced lengthways through the core into slabs, 6 mm thick
• 1 medium leek, thinly sliced
• salt and black pepper
• 115 g (1 cup) grated white cheddar, gruyère or parmesan
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 120 g (½ cup) thickened cream
• 1 large egg
• fresh flat-leaf parsley, chives, dill, leafy herb salad, lemon, gruyère wedge, to serve

The Only Pie Crust

This will make 2 discs of dough

• 360 g (2½ cups) plain flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 285 g unsalted butter, cut into 2.5 cm pieces, chilled
• 15 ml apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
• ¼ cup ice-cold water, plus more only if needed

Instructions

1. For the pie crust, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and toss to coat it in the flour mixture. Using your hands, smash the butter between your palms and fingertips into the flour, creating long, thin, flaky bits. When most of it is incorporated and there are no large chunks remaining, dump the flour mixture onto a work surface.
2. In a measuring cup, combine the vinegar and icy water and drizzle it over the flour mixture. Run your fingers through the mixture like you're running your fingers through your hair, just to evenly distribute the water through the flour until the dough starts coming together.
3. Knead the dough a few more times, just to gather up any dry bits from the bottom and place them on the top to be incorporated. You will be tempted to add a tablespoon or two more water now – resist if you can, add only if you must (it will hydrate and become more tender as it rests).
4. When you've got a shaggy mass of dough (it will not be smooth and it certainly will not be shiny), knead it one or two more times, then divide in half. Pat each half into a flat disc, about 2.5 cm thick. Wrap each disc individually and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a baking dish with baking paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to a 35 cm round diameter. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
6. Leaving a 5 cm border all round, scatter the sliced cauliflower and leek over the dough, seasoning with pinches of salt and pepper throughout. Scatter with the cheese, drizzle with the olive oil, and fold up the edges onto each other.
7. Pour the cream over the vegetables and cheese, followed by another little drizzle of olive oil. Beat the egg with about a teaspoon of water, then brush the egg wash all over the crust. Sprinkle with more black pepper.
8. Bake, rotating the pan front to back once halfway through (or twice, if your oven heat is especially uneven) for 55–65 minutes, until the crust of the galette is deeply golden brown and the cauliflower is tender.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing. Serve with herbs, salad, lemon and extra gruyère.

Note

• The pie dough can be made and refrigerated for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 2 months. This galette can be baked 2 days ahead and stored loosely wrapped at room temperature. It can be refrigerated up to 5 days and is great cold; you can also warm it in a 180°C oven.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

 This is the galette you make when you need something substantial and comforting, don't feel like eating meat, and have had too much pasta or are sick of beans. While this certainly could be served as your full dinner, I also like the idea of slicing it thinly and enjoying it as a pre-dinner snack, next to a little dish of olives and some hard, salty cheese. I have it on good authority (because I did it) that this also works with wedges of cabbage (about 2.5 cm) in place of cauliflower – highly recommended.