This savory tomato galette is sublime, starring juicy ripe tomatoes, a ricotta filling, and a golden flaky pastry crust.
Here’s a great way to use those peak, juicy summer tomatoes: try a Savory Tomato Galette! This freeform French tart is usually associated with dessert, but you can make a savory galette too! Think of it as a quiche with tomatoes, or a ricotta pizza with pie crust. It’s irresistibly tasty, featuring juicy ripe heirloom tomatoes, a garlic and ricotta filling, and a golden flaky pastry crust. Eat it for dinner with a green salad, or as a lovely summer brunch idea. It was a huge hit in this house!
Ingredients for this tomato galette
A galette is a rustic French tart: a round pie made without a pie dish using a folded pastry crust. There’s no need for precise rolling and sizing of the dough. Simply roll it out, place on a baking sheet, and fold over the crust. Galettes are most often served as desserts (like a Peach Galette or Blueberry Galette), but galettes can be savory too (like a Mushroom Galette). It’s similar to quiche with vegetable and cheese fillings. Here’s what you’ll need to make this tomato galette:
- Ripe tomatoes: make this recipe only when you have the juiciest, ripe summer tomatoes. You’ll want them perfectly ripe, not overripe (or they com out too watery).
- Ricotta cheese
- Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- Garlic
- Fresh thyme
- Flour
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Egg
Tips for galette dough
The most important part of making a tomato galette? The dough! This pastry dough is easy to work with, but it have a few challenging points if it’s your first time. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Spoon and level the flour (or weigh it in grams). Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level it with the back of the spoon. This provides most accurate measurement: scooping flour right out of the container can result in more flour per cup. Or better yet, use a food scale and weigh the flour out in grams.
- Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dough. Mash the butter into the dry ingredients until a pebbly texture forms.
- Add just enough water for the dough to come together. Usually it takes us about 5 tablespoons, though this depends on the exact flour amount (again; grams is most accurate).
- Chill 1 hour. This is important so that the butter can solidify. Otherwise, the crust can melt in the oven.
- Roll into a 12-inch circle, then add the filling. Flour your work surface first. Pick up the dough and add more flour to the surface as necessary if it’s sticking. Then add the ricotta filling and tomatoes.
- Gently fold it up to create a 2-inch crust. Overlap the folds to make a circle around the filling: see the photos.
- Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. An egg wash makes a nice golden sheen on the crust.
For the cheese
If you can, we recommend finding Pecorino Romano cheese for this tomato galette. This aged Italian cheese is similar to Parmesan, but it has an even saltier, more savory flavor. It really makes the pie!
Pecorino Romano becoming easier to find in American grocery stores: you can find it in blocks, shredded or grated. Can’t find it? Substitute Parmesan cheese and a pinch of extra salt. It will still taste incredible!
Serving this tomato galette
Once you’ve baked up this savory tomato galette, it will look and smell incredible! But don’t dig into it just yet: the cooling time is important!
- Cool the savory galette to room temperature, about 1 hour. Then garnish it with thyme leaves and slice into pieces. Of course if you just can’t wait, you can cheat a little!
- It’s great as a simple dinner, with a green salad. It tastes a bit like pizza.
- It also works as a savory brunch. Since it’s like a quiche, it works well for brunch with banana nut muffins, grapefruit salad, yogurt parfaits and coffee.
Storage info
Got leftovers of this tomato galette? Place it in a storage container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Want to make it the day before? Bake it and leave it out on the counter for about 30 minutes before serving to let it come to room temperature. You can also gently reheat it in a 350 degree oven.
More tomato recipes
Got summer tomatoes? When it’s the season, we love to make all the fresh tomato recipes. Here are some you’ll enjoy:
- Go for this Amazing Tomato Pie
- Make a batch of Marinated Tomatoes
- Try Easy Bruschetta or Pan con Tomate
- Opt for Caprese Salad, Caprese Flatbread or a Caprese Sandwich
- Whiz up Classic Gazpacho or a Quick Tomato Vinaigrette
This savory galette recipe is…
Vegetarian.
Print
Savory Tomato Galette
- Prep Time: 2 hours (including chill time)
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This savory tomato galette is sublime, starring juicy ripe tomatoes, a ricotta filling, and a golden flaky pastry crust.
Ingredients
For the galette dough:
- 1 ½ cups [210 grams] all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (or vegan butter)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water
- 1 egg, for the egg wash
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
For the filling:
- 3 to 4 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, kosher salt, and baking powder. Slice the butter into small pieces, then use a pastry blender or fork to cut it into the flour mixture until mostly incorporated and a pebbly texture forms (with pea-sized or smaller pieces).
- Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the cool water over the flour, mixing gradually with a fork until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of water until all the flour is incorporated, kneading with your fingers until the dough comes together. (Resist the urge to add more water; it should come together!) Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a thick disk. Wrap it in plastic or place it in a covered container and chill the dough for 1 hour. (To make in advance, you can refrigerate the dough up to 3 days; allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling. Or, wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze up to 3 months, then defrost overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice the tomatoes and place them on a cutting board or paper towel. Sprinkle them with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, divided between the slices. Allow them to sit while you prepare the rest of the filling (about 15 to 20 minutes).
- Mix the ricotta, Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough into an even 12” circle, leaving the edges rough (if needed, move the dough around and add a bit more flour underneath to keep it from sticking). Carefully transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Gently spread the cheese mixture on the dough, leaving at least 2 inches of dough around the outside edge. Place the tomato slices on top, shaking any liquid off of each slice before placing it onto the galette. As necessary, slice tomatoes in half to fill the entire circle of cheese filling (see the photos above). Fold in the outside edges of the dough over the filling to form an approximately 2-inch crust, overlapping the folds as shown in the photos.
- Whisk the egg and use a pastry brush to brush it onto the crust.
- Bake the galette for 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer the parchment paper to a baking rack to cool. Cool to room temperature (about 1 hour) before topping with thyme leaves. Slice into pieces and serve. Store leftovers for up to 3 days refrigerated; bring to room temperature or warm in the oven before serving.
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: French inspired
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: Tomato galette, savory galette
a wonderful savory galette, love it thank you, especially as a way to use up some garden tomatoes!
★★★★★