Mushroom & Leek Galette

Galettes are rustic open tarts that you can fill with all sorts of combinations of fruit or vegetables. I made a savory mushroom and leek version for dinner tonight with some goat cheese that we had, and it turned out delicious. I used frozen pie crust because we happened to have it on hand, but if you want to make it completely by hand, Martha Stewart's recipe for pâte brisée is simple and fabulous. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 6 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 medium white onion
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. red chile powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 pound (3 cups) leeks
• 1  1/2 tbsp. cream cheese
• 1/2 tbsp. milk
• pie crust (make sure you have one without sugar in the ingredients list!)
• all-purpose flour
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• grated parmesan and pepper for serving (optional)

1. Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and slice thinly. 

2. Peel onion and slice it thinly. Heat a little olive oil on a skillet and sautée the onions until they are soft and golden brown like this:

3. Add mushrooms, chile powder, and salt. Cook off all the water from the mushrooms.

Fresh Mushrooms...

All cooked down!

4. Slice leeks into 1/2 inch pieces and rinse them thoroughly in water to get rid of all the dirt. Add to the skillet and cook until slightly browned.

I used frozen leeks - fresh ones weren't available.

Once again, all cooked down!

5. Whip together cream cheese and milk, and add it to the vegetable filling. You could use 2 tbsp. of creme fraiche, but I didn't have any on hand. 

6.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking stone inside to warm

7.  Sprinkle all-purpose flour liberally onto a work surface. Roll out  pie dough into a circle, approximately 14 inches across. Don't worry about uneven edges! Galettes are meant to be rustic, and slightly raggedy edges will just give your tart character :). Just remember to try to cover up cracks in the folding process later on. 

Giant cracks like this one can be covered up later.

8. Foil and grease a rimmed baking sheet. Place crust on the sheet, and then spoon half of the vegetable mixture on top. Crumble 2 ounces of goat cheese on top. Make sure to leave at least 1 - 1 1/2 inches between the filling and the edge of the galette dough. 

9. Top with the remaining vegetable filling, and then the rest of the goat cheese, crumbled.

10. Tuck in one piece of the dough, as shown below, and then brush one corner with a little water.

The folds don't have to be of even length. 

Brush the dough enough to make it sticky - but not too much!

11. Fold the dough over the filling again, lightly pressing it into the wet dough. Brush again with water to seal. 

12. Repeat until the crust of the whole tart is closed.

13. Turn the oven down to 375, and then bake for 35 minutes, until the crust is hard and golden. Allow it to cool before slicing, and serve with a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.