Beautiful Mushroom, Onion and Thyme Galette! I love the gorgeous rustic look of a freeform galette! Filled with mushrooms, thyme and shredded mozzarella cheese, this is rewarding to make and eat!
I’ve noticed that I am always looking ahead, waiting and anticipating the next step. Maybe it’s the planner in me or always wanting to be prepared. One could look at this in a positive light or one could say, I need to live more in the moment. We have some change coming in our family. Something that might take our little family to another state to live. The anticipation and uncertainty kills me but I have to breathe, pray, relax and just trust. It’s amazing how things work. Reading something, watching something or having a conversation with someone that completely speaks to you, touches you, gives you hope and perspective.
Things like this keep me in motion and my body running.
Things that make me smile. I have to rest in these things and wait to see what’s next. And, in the meantime, soak in and enjoy all the lovely, special moments. I can’t explain it but there’s a sense of peace, satisfaction, happiness that over takes me when I bake or create something. Watching how putting 4 simple ingredients together like: flour, salt, butter and water creates something magical and delicious.
There’s something so beautiful and romantic about a freeform galette. Maybe it’s the imperfections. The way that the crust is folded over and creates lovely ridges that surround and enclose your filling. No two galettes look the same. I love this. It may sound silly, but baking beautiful things like this help me to keep moving.
I’ve been wanting to bake a savory galette for some time now. Way too much time has passed since my last sweet galette. This will not happen again. Friends, if you only bake one thing from my little blog, this is the recipe. Not only will you make your very own pastry crust from scratch but you will also have with you . . . in your possession. . this lovely, absolutely mouth watering Mushroom, Onion and Thyme Galette.
It’s worth it.
So worth it.
Tips re: the crust. So, I’ve made a galette before but this time, my crust was phenomenal. I mean, this was the perfect crust: flaky, crunchy but not too crunchy and flavorful. I loved it. So, a couple things I did differently: 1) use very cold butter; straight from your fridge. 2) I baked mine on a Silpain. I’m telling you. This thing rocks. It helps to create the most beautiful and perfect texture of the crust on the bottom. It’s perfection.
BUT if you don’t have the time or don’t want to mess with a homemade crust, this recipe was totally inspired by my Onion, Thyme and Mushroom Tart, which uses puff pastry, which you can just buy from the store so this is a great alternative.
I hope you enjoy.
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) very cold unsalted butter; cubed and immediately added
- ¼ cup cold ice water
- 1 egg yolk; slightly beaten (for egg wash)
- olive oil
- 2 cups onions; sliced and kept in rings or long strips
- 3-4 cups mushrooms (sliced); I recommend Cremini
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh thyme (leaves only)
- kosher salt
- 2-3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- less than a ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese; shredded so it melts faster
- food processor or pastry blender (or you could even use 2 forks)
- rolling pin
- Using your food processor, combine the flour, salt and butter and process for about 5 seconds. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and pulse until the pastry just begins to come together, about 10 seconds; you should still be able to see small pieces of butter in it.
- Transfer the pastry dough to a lightly floured work surface, gather it together to combine everything and roll out to a 12 inch circle. Transfer the dough to a prepared, parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate while you prepare the filling (You can also roll out the dough and use it right away if needed).
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. After a minute or 2, add the onions and stir continuously until softened and starting to caramelize, for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Wipe out your pan and re-heat the same pan with a few glugs of olive oil over medium-high heat. After a minute or 2, add the sliced mushrooms, thyme and season with a little salt and let cook until softened, for about 8-10 minutes.
- When softened, add the balsamic vinegar and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for another 5 minutes, remove from the heat and combine with the cooked onions. Set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and spoon in the onion, mushroom mixture in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Gently fold over the pastry border, overlapping the edges as much as possible and gently pressing the folds together.
- Brush the folded edges of the crust with the beaten egg yolk and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust has become a lovely golden brown. During the last 10 minutes or so of cooking, sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Use as little or as much as you want. I used maybe only a few sprinkles. Let cool for about 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
So, I don’t know if it’s the *high* off my galette. Remember, I get happy when I’m thoroughly pleased with things I bake in the kitchen and then a million things race through my head. . or the numerous blog posts I’ve read recently (it’s like therapy for me now) . . or the recent conversations I’ve had with friends . . but I just want to say a few things . .
So, I will leave you all with this:
- Don’t compare yourself to others. You’ll never be happy if you do.
- Love your family.
- If your parents live in a different state and are still around, call them. Visit them. Love them. Show them you care.
- Spend time with friends.
- Get out there. Enjoy life as much as possible.
- Baby steps are better than no movement at all.
A wise friend said this to me when I lived in San Francisco and I say it all the time now. Balance is key. Balance in life is key. I think this is something that you will continue to find and work on everyday in your life. Every day is new and brings new challenges. Balance is key.
This galette is absolutely gorgeous!! I am going to definitely make this ASAP. I love the easy of galettes and yet, I’ve never made a savory one. This sounds just amazing… mushrooms, onions, balsamic, mozzarella, thyme… I’m in awe and drooling. Love!! And I also loved your closing comments. Wonderful advice to all 😉
Awh, thank you so much Kate!! Please let me know how it turns out for you. . I usually share my baked goodies with friends and neighbors. . but I gave one slice to my husband and ate 3 slices myself over the past 2 days. . I’m saving the last piece for myself too because it’s THAT good. 😛
Girl, I wish I could do something to help take the load off your shoulders. Not just with words, but actually something that makes a real difference. I’m in awe of you for everything you do. Even in the face of adversity, you’re making beautiful things like this galette while still taking care of your family. The flavours – YUM! I adore mushrooms, onions and thyme – mixing them together is genius. I’m pinning this (I’m FINALLY using Pinterest!) and can’t wait to make this. I’ll be thinking of you when I do 🙂
What excellent pearls of wisdom, Alice. So true.
Your savory galette looks amazing…what a delicious filling.
I can´t say enough good things about galettes in general, and this particular one is stunning Alice, both the flavors and the pics! And about your feelings in this post, so true, and so honest. It´s the changes that make us evolve, though many are not welcome at first.
First of all, I just looooove galettes! They’re so rustically beautiful. Second of all – you just knocked it out of the park with this one! Mushrooms and onions AND thyme?! I’m in love.
Made the galette tonite it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
Found this recipe through Pintrest and made it for dinner tonight.
This was delicious! Made it with puff pastry. It’s definitely on my meal rotation from now on.
Thanks!
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! Hooray! Thank you for the comment!
I used this recipe in my blog – thanks for posting it 🙂 worked like a charm.
So happy to hear this! Thank you, Ellie!