Week 13: One Galette To Serve Them All + Lemon Dill Beans

Hi everyone! I’m Charles, Jane’s partner, and a past farmer at Root Radical. I’m also so excited to be a guest blogger this week while Jane is on adventures!

Although, I gotta be honest, sometimes it can be overwhelming to approach all this bounty and figure out what you want to do with it all! My go-to solution for uncertainty is PIE. Jane tracked down a brilliant recipe for a “burst tomato galette” on smittenkitchen, and I adapted it for my own haphazard approach to weekday cooking. The great thing about a galette is that you don’t need a pie pan. You don’t need to roll out a tidy circle of dough. You definitely don’t need to cut out a fancy top for the pie, or any other fussiness. This recipe takes a few steps, and is maybe better for a slow sunday afternoon than a weekday whirlwind, but if you’re comfy with whipping up some pie pastry, it’s actually a nice time! And it makes a hearty meal out of many of the ingredients in this week’s share. If you felt up for it, you could even make a series of lunch-sized galettes that could fit into your lunch box. How cute would that be??

And to top it off, I saw the dill and the beans together in my share and immediately thought of dilly beans! But seeing as it IS a week night and I was already making a somewhat elaborate dish, I was a bit dissuaded from diving into a pickling project. So instead I just gently cooked the beans in some butter and lemon, and right at the end, stirred in some of that delicious fresh dill. And then I ate them right up with some salt and pepper and had a really great time with it. 🙂

Burst Tomato, Zucchini, Eggplant, and Corn Galette

Tasty savoury juicy pie, and no soggy bottom!

Course Main Course
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 5 people

Ingredients

Pie Filling

  • 3 handfuls cherry tomatoes
  • 3 small eggplants
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1/2 large zucchini
  • 5 green onions top to bottom
  • 1 cob corn cut off cob after quickly boiled
  • 2 bloops olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • parmesan in excess!

Pie Crust

  • a pie crust recipe of your choice!
  • 1 egg yolk for pie glaze

Instructions

Pie Filling

  1. pick out a few handfuls of tomatoes, chop up the zucchini and eggplant and green onions into whatever size and shape you like – the smittenkitchen recipe suggests cubes and i did disks. so long as they aren't too thick, it should be fine. i salted the zucchini and eggplant at this point so it had some time to sink in.

  2. bloop the olive oil into a large skillet

  3. toss the handfuls of tomatoes into the oil

  4. crank it to high heat and cover the skillet. shuffle the toms around a bit now and again so they don't burn.

  5. wait until you hear the tomatoes popping and sizzling, then turn the heat down a bit

  6. throw the zucchini and eggplant in and stir

  7. cook for about 2-3 minutes until the zuke and eggies are soft but not mushy

  8. throw the green onions in, stir a bit, and turn off the heat

  9. spread out the veggies on a plate so they cool faster. i scooped the veggies out of the pan and tried to leave the bulk of the juices behind because pies are touchy about liquid! (but i saved it because it smelled delicious and could make a good additive to a pizza/pasta sauce or a carrot soup or something – you could freeze it in an ice cube tray to store it if you like)

  10. cook the cob of corn by putting it in a pot of water, bringing it to a boil, and waiting until the colour of the corn seems really bright. then pull it out and cut the corn off the cob and add it to the plate of veggies.

Make The Pie Crust and Leave To Chill In The Fridge For A Bit

  1. everyone has a different way to make a pie crust, and my own favourite recipe is a friend's family secret, but here are some general tips that always help me have success – i'll bet you or your elders or your youngers or your neighbours have some great ideas as well!

  2. throw whatever fat you are using (shortening, butter, lard) into the freezer well before you start the process – the colder the fat you use, the better!

  3. dice the butter/shortening/lard with a cold sharp knife before you toss it in the flour to give yourself a head start on breaking it up.

  4. work quickly and confidently and don't worry about getting a perfectly crumbly texture. some chunks are ok!

  5. that chill time in the fridge after the dough is made does some important work. i don't know why, but it does always seem to help.

Pie Assembly

  1. once the filling is lukewarm or cooler, it's time to roll out the dough

  2. sprinkle some flour on a clean dry surface and smash the dough out into a chubby circle

  3. start rolling it out, flipping it and spinning it and adding flour when necessary, to try and get a somewhat even circle. it needs to be fairly thin.

  4. transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

  5. dollop the filling into the centre of the pie crust – leave at least two inches all the way around

  6. add more salt if you like, and grate some parmesan on top

  7. fold over the excess pie crust in little sections so that it makes a circular shape

  8. get that egg yolk out and use either the back of a spoon or a little brush to spread it on the top of the pie crust

  9. then add more parmesan and pepper on top

  10. bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown!

Lemon Dill Green Beans

Course Side Dish
Prep Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 handfuls green beans with tops removed
  • a bit fresh dill
  • 1 lemon squeezed
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. take the tops off all the beans

  2. heat a skillet and melt some butter on medium low heat

  3. toss the beans in

  4. add freshly squeezed lemon

  5. cook until beans are bright green, or to taste

  6. quickly stir in some fresh dill, as well as salt and pepper to taste

  7. eat up!