I Am Not a Baker – Mushroom and Leek Galette with Gruyere Cheese
I am not a baker. It’s not that I have disdain for baked goods; in fact, I rather like them. It’s the precision of baking with which I have trouble. Exact measuring is not my style of cooking. Perhaps that’s why after receiving my Master’s degree in Marine Science I never pursued a career as a scientist. In the same way that I didn’t like the minutiae of collecting data, I don’t like the detail that baking requires.
While baking is not my forte, I do bake sometimes. There was a time when I frequently made Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread (made famous by Mark Bittman and perfected by Cook’s Illustrated). Spice Cookies are a family classic I make for school events and holidays. And I’m perfectly happy baking brownies out of a box. But none of these require real precision or technique; if the measurements are off, no real harm is done. I usually leave the serious baking and desserts to my wife Marci. I’ll cook you a meal, but I can’t be bothered with the dessert.
Recently I’ve seen a million galettes flash by on Instagram and various cooking blogs. They all proclaim how easy they are. A pie for slouchers; people who can’t deal with making desserts. No exact measurements, no fuss, no need to crimp edges or figure out latticework. Sounds like the pastry for me.
It was time to try my hand at baking, and I used Carla Lalli Music’s Extra Flaky Pastry Dough. But I decided to go the savory route rather than sweet. I had leeks in the garden to use before winter and I figured they’d pair nicely with mushrooms. Add some cheese and it would make a perfect appetizer.
With five ingredients, including ice water, the galette dough was a cinch to make. It came together quickly and simply, exactly as explained in the recipe. And it’s deliciously flaky crust was the perfect vehicle for the filling of sautéed leeks and mushrooms with gruyere cheese.
Maybe now with the success of this galette I will make other tarts, both savory and sweet. I may even go way out on a limb and expand my baking repertoire further.
Mushroom and Leek Galette with Gruyere Cheese
Makes one 12 to 14 inch galette, about 1½ hours
1 recipe Extra-Flaky Pastry Dough
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and chopped
1 lb. mushrooms of any type, although a mixture will make things more interesting, cleaned and cut into roughly bite-size pieces
3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped from the stems (about 1 tsp. leaves), stems discarded
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 large egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. black sesame seeds
1 tsp. white sesame seeds
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
- Make the pastry dough as per Carla Lalli Music’s Extra Flaky Pastry Dough.
- While it is chilling in the refrigerator for a half hour, preheat the oven to 350 oF and make the mushroom and leek filling.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy 10-inch skillet on medium. Add the leeks and sauté, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has come out of the mushrooms and evaporated, and they start to sear, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you complete the pastry dough.
- Once the pastry dough is rolled out, carefully transfer it to a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the pastry dough, leaving about a 1- to 1½-inch border.
- Bring the uncovered edges of the pastry dough an inch or so over the filling (most of the mushroom mixture will be exposed). It need not be neat and tidy and there will be folds in the dough.
- Brush the exposed pastry dough lightly with the egg mixture, and sprinkle evenly with the black and white sesame seeds.
- Place the sheet pan in the pre-heated oven and bake until the edges begin to brown, about a half hour to 40 minutes. Spread the grated gruyere cheese over the filling and bake for an additional couple of minutes until the cheese melts. Serve warm.
