Recipe: Caramelized Onion Galette

Ingredients

Galette (makes enough for two 8-inch galettes)
• 3 Tbsp sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
• 1/3 cup (approx.) ice water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 6-8 pieces
Caramelized Onion filling:
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3 onions, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp balsamic
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 salt
• 5 oz goat cheese (with or without herbs)
• optional - 1/4 cup pine nuts

Instructions

Galette Dough:
By Hand:
1. Stir the sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water together in a small bowl and set aside. Then, in a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt and stir with a fork to mix. Drop in the butter chunks and toss them a round a bit to coat them with the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, working for butter pieces that range in size from bread crumbs to small peas. Julia says: The smaller pieces will make the dough tender, the larger ones will make it flaky.
2. Add the cold water/sour cream mixture into the dough 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition to evenly distribute the liquid. When all the mixture has been added, the dough should be gooey enough to stick together when it’s pressed; if it’s not, add in more cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Use your hands to gather the dough together. Julia says: You’ll have a soft, malleable dough, the kind you might want to overwork. Don’t do it.
3. When you’ve gathered it together into a cohesive ball, divide it in half. Press each half of dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
In a Food Processor:
4. Stir the sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water together in a small bowl; set aside. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in the work of a processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse to combine. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl and pulse 8 to 10 times or until the mixture is speckled with pieces of butter that vary in size from bread crumbs to peas. With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms soft, moist curds.
5. Remove the dough from the processor, divide it in half, and press each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
Caramelized Onion Filling:
6. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil and butter.
7. Add the sliced onions and cook until deep golden brown, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
8. Add the balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt and cook for another 5 minutes until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.
Putting the galette together:
9. Preheat the oven to 400° and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
10. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into an 11-inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick. The dough is quite soft so make sure to lift it now and then and toss some flour under it and on the top to prevent it from sticking everywhere. When you’ve accomplished the above dimensions, move it to your prepared pan. The best and easiest way to move this dough is to roll it up around your rolling pin and then unroll it onto the prepared baking sheet.
11. Smoosh the goat cheese as evenly as possible on the unbaked galette dough.
12. Spread the onions over the goat cheese.
13. Fold the uncovered border dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to naturally pleat as you work your way around the galette.
14. Bake the galette at 400F for 30-40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp. When it’s done, allow the galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes

Notes