Butternut squash and caramelized onion cheese galette

I usually start my blog posts with some type of story, or something that transitions to a recipe that I want to share with you all. But today, I really don't want to dilute the deliciousness of this dish with words. I want to dive right in to the photos, and hopefully entice your eye-buds to get this dish on your taste buds.

Eye-buds. Yes, I just made that up. Yes, it will likely enter my lexicon as a permanent word for me.

This galette may look complex, but ultimately it's quite basic. A simple butter and flour crust, topped with roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, and cheese. It's baked, until the cheese gets melty and bubbly and the crust gets flaky and tender. And this crust-- oh my-- I literally don't have the words for this crust. Quite possibly the best butter crust I've ever eaten. So flaky, it was like a hybrid of a croissant and a tart. And the bottom was so perfectly crispy, I couldn't believe it. Try this recipe and be wowed.

The great thing too is that you can tailor this recipe and adapt it to your taste buds. Feel free to swap out the butternut squash with some roasted zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, and/or any other seasonal vegetable. Add some cooked bacon or crispy pork belly to the veggies for a hint of smokiness. Or eliminate the cheese if you're not a fan. The possibilities are limit-less.

But no matter what you put on this buttery galette, I can pretty much guarantee it'll knock your socks off. Or pants off, if you decide to eat too much...

Fresh out of the oven

Yours in finally getting some pictures on the blog to entice your eye-buds,
Jacqueline

Butternut squash and caramelized onion cheese galette, from Seven Spoons

Note: I halved the recipe for a 9" galette. If you want a 12" galette, double the recipe, and in step 5 roll your dough out to ~16", stuff with filling, then fold the dough over around the edges. I probably should have rolled my dough out a bit more for a thicker edge, but this worked fine.

Also, the boy felt it was a bit too heavy on the butternut squash and not onion-y enough. I actually liked the sweetness from the butternut squash, so I've kept the amounts the same in my recipe below. However, I did agree that the caramelized onions were not quite enough, so I doubled the onions. Feel free to play with the ratios to suite your needs.

Ingredients

For the pastry
1 1/4 cups (160 g) all-purpose flour, including 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour if you like
(+ additional flour for your work surface)
1/4 tsp (1 g) table salt
8 TBSP, or 1 stick, unsalted butter, cold
1/4 cup (32 g) sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, strained
1/2 TBSP (7.5 mL) white wine vinegar
8 tsp (40 mL) ice water

For the filling 
1 small or 1/2 large butternut squash, about 1 1/4 pounds
2 TBSP olive oil
1½ tsp (2.5 g) table salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 TBSP (14 g) butter
2 large sweet onions, such as Spanish or Vidalia, halved, thinly sliced in half-moons
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional
1+ cups (90 g) grated Italian Fontina cheese
1/2 teaspoon (4 g) chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1/2 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water, for glaze (optional, but makes for a croissant-looking finish)

Directions

1. To make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the whole stick of butter and, using a pastry blender, break up the bits of butter until the texture is like cornmeal, with the biggest pieces the size of pebbles. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, vinegar and water, and pour this over the butter-flour mixture. Stir with a spoon or a rubber spatula until a dough forms, kneading it once or twice on the counter if needed to bring it together. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or up to two days.
2. To prepare squash: Peel the squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into 1/2" to 3/4" chunks. Pour 1 TBSP of the olive oil into one baking sheet, spreading it to an even slick. Lay the squash chunks on the baking sheet in one layer, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and freshly ground black pepper, and roast in a 400 F oven for 30 minutes, or until squash is tender, turning the pieces occasionally so that they brown evenly. Set aside to cool slightly. Leave the oven on.
3. While the squash is roasting, melt the butter and remaining 1 TBSP of olive oil in a heavy frying pan, and cook the onions over medium-low heat with the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt, stirring occasionally, until soft and tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cayenne pepper, if using.
4. Mix the squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.
5. To assemble the galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 13" to 14" round. Transfer to a parchment-lined or foil-lined baking sheet. Spread the squash-and-cheese mixture over the dough, leaving a 2 to 2½-inch border. Fold the border over the squash and cheese, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open. Brush the outside of the crust with the egg-yolk wash, if using.
6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the galette from the oven, let stand for five minutes, then slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.