Creamy beet, goat cheese, shallot and thyme filling in a tender black pepper-infused crust, this beet and goat cheese galette is a delicious meal for dinner or lunch.
The Versatility of Beets
Beets are by far my favorite root vegetable and one of my favorite ingredients to work with. They’re nutritious and low in calories and give a gorgeous red color to any dish (see my roasted beet pasta recipe!). I grew up eating them quite a lot because they are often used in Polish cuisine, but what I love most about beets is how incredibly versatile they are. They can be eaten raw by grating them into a salad for crunch or sautéed in a pan or roasted in the oven… they can even be added to a smoothie!
Galette Crust
While pies have structured crusts, galettes are more freeform. They don’t require any pie mold since they’re shaped by hand, which gives them a nice rustic look. This crust is a traditional pie crust dough but I add an extra dose of crushed black pepper which pairs well with the beet filling. The dough comes together quickly in a Kitchen Aid or food processor, but you can also work it out by hand or with a pastry cutter. No matter which method you use, it’s important to chill the dough for about 1.5-2 hours so that the fats in the dough have time to harden and give the crust more structure. You can also make Beet and Goat Cheese Galette a day ahead and keep it refrigerated.
Beet, Goat Cheese, and Thyme Filling
The filling for this rustic pie is similar to the one I used in my beet pasta recipe. Roasted beets are blended together with sautéed shallots and a cheese (this time goat cheese) to form a deliciously creamy and savory filling.
I like to roast the beets while the galette dough is chilling in the fridge. I’ve found that washing and wrapping medium-sized beets in aluminum foil and roasting them in a high temperature oven for almost an hour works best. Around the 50-minute mark I check their doneness by carefully unwrapping one beet (with an oven glove on, they will be hot!) and inserting a knife in the middle of it. If the knife goes in easily with no resistance, the beets are ready. Let them cool until you can handle them and then use a paper towel to rub the skin off.
The other additional step required in this filling is sautéing the shallots (or onions). I like to start this when the beets are roasting so that I’m ready to put the filling together once they’ve cooled. Once you have the roasted beets and sautéed shallots, put them in a food processor with the rest of the filling ingredients.
While the recipe does take about two hours from start to finish, the nice thing about it is that you end up with two galettes that can be kept in the fridge for about three days. What I like to do is slice the galette into about 8 individual slices, wrap each in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container in the fridge. Microwave for about 30 seconds and you have a deliciously crisp galette the remaining days!
Beet and Goat Cheese Galette
Equipment
- 2 sheet pan
- 1 food processor, blender or handheld mixer
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- 20 tbsp butter (2.5 sticks or 285 grams)
- 1 tbsp vodka (or apple cider vinegar)
- ¼ cup ice water
Beet and Goat Cheese Filling
- 3 beets (medium sized)
- 10 oz goat cheese
- 1 cup finely chopped shallots, 115 g (roughly 2-3 shallots)
- 2 tbsp butter (for sautéing shallots)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dried thyme or 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 eggs (2 for filling, 1 for egg wash)
Instructions
Galette Crust
- In a food processor, pulse four, sugar, salt, and black pepper. Add butter and pulse until a crumbly mixture starts to form.
- Add in the vodka or vinegar and then drizzle in the ice water, teaspoon by teaspoon. You want to make sure you don't add too much water otherwise the cruse will get rubbery. Once the water has been added, the dough should come together quickly. Stop pulsing and dump onto a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Form the dough into a flat disc and slice into two discs. Cover each with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 90 minutes.** During this time you can start roasting the beets and getting the filling ready.
- After 90 minutes, lightly flour a large wooden or mable cutting board. Unwrap one disc of dough and start to roll it out with a rolling pin. Lightly flour the dough, board and rolling pin as you go to make sure the dough doesn't stick. Roll out dough into a circular form, about 12 inches across. Repeat with second disc.
Beet and Goat Cheese Filling
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Wash and pat dry beets. Wrap each one in tin foil. If the beets are large, cut them in half and wrap each half in tin foil. Place in oven for 1 hour. Check after 45 minutes how the beets are doing.
- To check if the beets are done, carefully remove one from the oven using an oven mitt. Open gently and stick a sharp knife into the middle. It should go in easily with no resisistance. Remove pan from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Open each tin foil-wrapped beet and place beet in a paper towel and use the edges of the paper to peel the skin off. You can also use a vegetable peeler to remove skin.
- Meanwhile, sauté the shallots. Sauté chopped shallots in a pan on medium heat with 2 tbsp butter. Sauté will take about 10 minutes as we don't want to brown the onions but make them translucent and sweat them out a little. When done, set aside
- Increase oven temperature to 420°. Place a new sheet of parchment paper on to the baking sheet.
- Place peeled and roasted beets into the bowl of a food processor as well as all other filling ingredients and mix until a smooth mixture forms. If you're using fresh thyme, pull the leaves off of the sprig and discard the sprig.
- Divide filling in half (just eyeballing it is fine, this is a rustic tart, after all!) and spread half onto one pie crust and the other onto the remaining crust. Leave about a two-inch border around the sides. Fold the crust over the edges to make a border (see image). Top with additional ground black pepper, a few extra thyme leaves and some flaky salt.
- Beat the remaining egg with a teaspoon of water then brush over the crust edges with this egg wash. Sprinkle crust with a pinch of flaky salt and black pepper.
- Bake pie for 40-45 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.