Greek-Style Greens Galette

This recipe is an adaptation of Jacques Pépin’s Greek hand-pie recipe, but instead of individual, fried pies, the heaping mound of wilted greens is baked into a single galette. You can use practically any hearty green in this recipe, as well as any fresh herbs you have handy.

How to Make a Galette Dough

For a rustic and delicious galette crust, creating your own dough is surprisingly simple. You’ll need flour, salt, cold butter, and ice water. Start by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl. Then, using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. The key here is keeping the butter cold, which creates flakiness in the crust. Gradually add ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing gently until the dough just comes together. Avoid overworking it, as this can lead to a tough crust. Form the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic, and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Greek-Style Greens Galette Recipe

Greek-Style Greens Galette Ingredients

• 1 ball of galette dough or premade pie crust
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 medium scallions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 1/2 pounds greens, such as Swiss chard, kale, spinach and dandelion greens, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dill
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped oregano
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta (2 ounces)
• 4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Greens Galette Preparation Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the lower-middle position. Have a baking sheet and a 16 by 12-inch piece of parchment paper ready.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the scallions and cook over moderate heat until softened, 3 minutes. Add the greens and cook over high heat, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the dill, mint, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until wilted. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a colander and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cooled greens with the feta, 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, egg, and ¼ tsp each salt and pepper.
4. Lightly dust a piece of parchment paper with flour and roll the galette dough (or premade pie crust) to a 12-inch round (about 3/16 inch thick), dusting with more flour as needed. (If dough sticks to parchment, gently loosen and lift sticky area with a bench scraper and dust parchment with additional flour.) If at any point the dough becomes soft, sticky, and difficult to work with during rolling, chill it until it becomes workable.
5. Slide parchment and dough onto the baking sheet and refrigerate until cool and firm yet pliant, 15 to 30 minutes. (If refrigerated longer and the dough is hard and brittle, let stand at room temperature until pliant.)
6. Mound greens mixture in the center of the dough, leaving 2 1/2-inch border around the edge. Carefully grasp one edge of the dough and fold up the outer 2 inches over greens, leaving a 1/2-inch area of dough just inside of fold free of filling (this allows for shrinkage of the dough). Repeat around the circumference of tart, overlapping dough every 2 to 3 inches; gently pinch pleated dough to secure. Brush or spray dough with water and sprinkle evenly with the remaining tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Bake until crust is deep golden brown, about 45 minutes.
7. Cool galette on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Using an offset or wide metal spatula, loosen galette from the parchment and carefully slide off parchment and onto a wire rack; cool until warm, about 30 minutes, or to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cut into wedges and serve with your favorite summer beer!

Recipe by Erika Bruce / Styling by Keith Recker / Photography by Dave Bryce

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