This cheesy courgette galette is the perfect lunch. Its crisp, savoury, creamy, packed full of flavour and so simple to put together! It’ll be a permanent fixture in your kitchen!
You know when you make something for the first time and just instantly fall in love? This cheesy courgette galette is that. Its seriously SO good. I had it for lunch and dinner in one day when recipe testing and I have zero regrets! The tender flaky pastry, the cheesy base and garlicky lemon courgettes…all topped off with pine nuts! Just so so goood.
Key Ingredients You’ll Need
- Fine Cornmeal – Adding cornmeal to the crust adds the most delicious texture and subtle flavour. I think it works so well in a savoury galette, though I’ll definitely be trying it in sweet galettes too. The slight crunch it adds to the pastry works so well with the softened courgettes. You can find it in most supermarkets in the world food section or online!
- Courgette (Zucchini) – The courgette or zucchini is one of my absolute favourite vegetables. And as it is the star of this galette, try and get the best you can. Bonus points if you grow your own!
- Garlic Infused Olive Oil – The garlicky notes to this galette are what really makes it amazing in my opinion. Of course you could crush a clove or two yourself, but I love how intense garlic oil is. And once you’ve bought a bottle I promise you it’ll become your favourite salad dressing!
How to make a cheesy courgette galette:
The beauty of galette’s is how simple they are to put together. No blind baking, no faffing with tart tins, and no worrying about shrinkage in the oven! Their rustic look is all part of their charm, and it makes for the perfect delicious but impressive lunch!
Making the cornmeal pastry dough
Now full warning – this pastry will look like a mess before you put it in the fridge, but I promise you its meant to look like that. What I mean by a mess, is that it’ll be superrr wet. There is alot of water that goes into this pastry dough, way more than I would add for say a shortcrust pastry. But, this is what gives the pastry the most beautiful flaky texture.
So for the dough, all you need to do is combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and a little sugar. I know this is a savoury dish, but the small bit of sugar helps to add a little caramelization which makes it so delicious. Then the butter is rubbed in, until your mixture resembles breadcrumbs. At this point you’ll add 125ml of water! I told you it was a lot!
The dough will be very sticky, but it will all come together the more you knead in the bowl. Then the dough needs to be chilled in the freezer for at least an hour. I find it easiest to flatten the dough into a round disc shape, as this’ll help you when it comes to rolling it out!
Making the galette filling
While your pastry is in the freezer, you can get prepping your filling. For this galette, a mixture of mascarpone and parmesan is spread onto the pastry. And then topped with the courgette mix, which is sprinkled with more parmesan. Its super cheesy and soooo good!!
So, the mascarpone and parmesan can be mixed together in a small bowl and then set aside till your pastry is ready. For the courgette mix, you first want to slice two courgettes thinly and place into a medium bowl. Make sure your courgette slices are roughly the same size so they all cook evenly. Then the zest of a medium lemon and half the juice can be added, along with the pine nuts and garlic infused olive oil.
If you can’t find garlic oil, you can use regular oil and add 2 crushed garlic cloves. Don’t scrimp on the garlic, I really think it makes the dish! Finally, season the mixture well and mix together.
Assembling the galette
Once your pastry has been in the freezer for at least an hour, you’ll be ready to assemble! Most importantly, roll out your pastry directly onto a lined baking tray. Even though the pastry has been in the freezer, it will still be soft, and you definitely don’t want to try and move it! So line a large baking tray with baking paper, scatter over some extra cornmeal (for added crunch and deliciousness!) and then roll out the pastry. You want to keep it to a circle shape, but if its not completely even that’s okay. We’re going for rustic here after all! You want to roll it to around 11inches wide, so you can fit all your delicious topping on!
Once you have your pastry circle, spread the mascarpone mixture on, leaving a decent gap around the edges. Then add the courgette slices, in concentric circles starting from the outside in, on top of the mascarpone mixture. If any pine nuts or juice is left in your bowl, pour this over the top of the courgette slices.
Then you need to fold over the exposed edges of pastry, to encase your courgette mixture. Finally, a light egg wash over the pastry and a sprinkling of the remaining parmesan and you’re done!
Tips & Tricks
You can make the pastry and keep it in the fridge for up to two days. The baked galette can be kept in the fridge and then re-heated at a later time if needed too.
Yes absolutely! Using vegan butter in place of the dairy butter would work just as well in the pastry. For the cheese’s, vegan alternatives would work well – the mascarpone can be substituted for vegan ricotta or even cream cheese if they’re easier to find.
The pastry will be nicely golden, the courgettes soft (so you could easily cut through with a knife) and the parmesan on top nicely golden and bubbling a little.
This cheesy courgette galette is honestly one my favourite creations! It’s so easy to put together, but so delicious. Perfect for lunch, a summery dinner or to take on a picnic! It keeps really well, and in my opinion tastes best just warm from the oven. Its crisp, savoury, creamy and packed full of flavour. So get baking!
You may also like:
Cheesy Courgette (Zucchini) Galette
Ingredients
Pastry
- 200 g plain flour
- 50 g fine cornmeal plus more for sprinkling
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp table salt
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 125 ml cold water
Filling
- 90 g mascarpone cheese
- 50 g parmesan cheese
- 2 medium courgettes
- 1 medium lemon
- 20 g pine nuts
- 2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil (or 2 crushed garlic cloves, plus 2 tbsp olive oil)
Glaze
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- For the pastry: Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt to a large bowl and rub in the butter by hand until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then pour in the water and knead slightly until you have a uniform dough – it will be very sticky! Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and place in the freezer for at least an hour.
- For the filling: While the pastry is in the freezer, prep your filling. Firstly, mix the mascarpone and 20g of the Parmesan in a small bowl until well combined. Then set aside. Then thinly slice the courgettes and place into a medium bowl. Zest the lemon and add to the courgette bowl. Then cut the lemon in half and add the juice of one half to the bowl. Next, add the pine nuts and garlic oil (or crushed garlic cloves and oil) to the bowl, and finally season well. Stir with a spoon until everything is well combined. Then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6, line a large baking tray with baking paper and sprinkle a light coating of cornmeal on top. Remove your pastry from the freezer and roll out into a large circle directly onto the baking paper- you want it to be around 11inches in diameter.
- To assemble: Then spread over the mascarpone mixture in a thin layer, leaving approx. 2inch gap round the sides. Then place the courgette slices in concentric circles on top of the mixture, starting from the outside in, until you have used all the slices. Pour over any remaining juices or pine nuts. Then fold the sides of the pastry up and over the courgette, to encase the filling.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg and then using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg over the pastry. Finally, sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the whole galette. Then place in the oven to bake for 38-40 minutes, until golden. Leave the galette to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Use a vegan butter to replace the dairy butter. Use vegan parmesan to replace the dairy parmesan. Use vegan mascarpone (or vegan ricotta or vegan cream cheese) to replace the dairy mascarpone. Follow all other instructions as normal.
