buckwheat tomato galette

Yesterday was the first day that I turned my air conditioning off since I don’t even know when. I woke up to my windows open with air flowing through that could only be described as chilly. Or crisp. The coolness was too abrupt even after weeks of deep, stagnant summer air. Maybe it’s because this year, we never quite got to settle into summer in a familiar way. Or maybe because the change of seasons brings with it a rumored, imminent (if not already occurring) second wave of COVID-19. Either way, just a glimpse of fall feels too soon.

It also feels like a moral responsibility to sop up every last drop of summer with ripped bread, run through oil to render a plate clean. If I sound dramatic, it’s because I feel dramatic. And if a day without air conditioning is the first sign of summer leaving, people speaking the words “the end of tomato season” comes as a close second. I have heard both things today, if you’re looking for a source on the aforementioned drama.

Fall is coming, summer is over, and thus we all have to leave the fresh tomato party and go home. But I refuse to leave any party without a bang. Like I said, I am feeling dramatic. My bang, and ode to summer, is this Buckwheat Galette. It is topped with a mixture of creamy ricotta and goat cheese, and of course thick slices of tomatoes. Like summer is supposed to be, the dough for the crust is so easy. It is adapted from Crunchy Salt, and you can check out the full crust tutorial here . Ashley of Crunchy Salt outlines a method using a plastic bag and a rolling pin to first stretch the butter into long, flat ribbons before incorporating the liquid. This makes for a really tender and laky dough, but you can also do this using just your hands and a bowl or food processor. I'll describe that process below.

Buckwheat Tomato Galette

Ingredients

For Buckwheat Dough:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup buckwheat flour (you can substitute any whole wheat flour)

1 stick (4oz) butter, cold and cubed

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup water, cold

2 tablespoon white vinegar

For Filling:

1 cup ricotta

1/4 cup goat cheese

1 pinch salt

2 tomatoes (roughly 8 slices)

Step 1:

For the dough, combine water and vinegar and place in the freezer to chill. In a bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar, and butter. Toss to coat the butter in flour and to prevent it from sticking together. Stream in the liquid and use your hand to knead the mixture together until just combined. The idea is to handle the dough as little as possible so that the butter doesn’t melt. If the butter does start to melt, place the bowl in the freezer. Mix until just combined. Form dough into a flat disk and cut into quarters. Stack the quarters on top of each other and press down to flatten it into a 5x5 square. Wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate.

Step 2:

While the dough chills, prepare your filling. In a bowl, whisk together ricotta, goat cheese, and salt. Slice your tomatoes into 1 cm thick slices. Place slices onto a plate with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. This will help the tomatoes to release some of their liquid.

Step 3:

Place your dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a 10x12 inch rectangle. Transfer dough onto a sheet tray with parchment paper. To assemble, spread the ricotta and goat cheese mixture onto the pastry, keeping a 1 inch perimeter of crust. Shingle the slices of tomatoes on top of the ricotta mixture, maintaining that same perimeter. Fold the edges of the pastry over the tomatoes. Brush with olive oil.

Step 4:

Bake at 400°F for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool slightly before slicing.