Crunchy Cornmeal Galette with Tomato & Basil

Last week, I had the great honor of taking a cooking class from Joanne Weir. Her cookbook, Weir Cooking in Wine Country, was one of the first cookbooks I ever bought. I still use it regularly. Anyway, I really enjoyed her Summer Supper cooking class. The food was beautiful and delicious and she is a wonderful teacher. I highly recommend that you take a class from her if you can. Future classes are posted on her website www.joanneweir.com.

Ever since I took the class, I have been craving the galette she made. It had tomatoes, basil, and cheese tucked into a crunchy cornmeal crust. I had some nice basil from Blue House Farm.

And, I had some cherry tomatoes.

The recipe is for a cornmeal crust. The key here is to keep the ingredients cold and to keep the dough cold until you put it in the oven. The dough was fairly simple to make (and, I am not much of a baker). I put the cornmeal, flour and butter in a food processor to incorporate the butter into the flour. Then I put the butter/flour/cornmeal mixture in a bowl and slowly added the wet ingredients. I rolled the dough in a ball and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. The dough came out a bit goopy. I think it would be better to let it rest in the freezer for 30 minutes. I think that would make it cooer and easier to work with.

Nonetheless, I did shape the dough into a very rustic tart.

Baked it in the oven.

And, served it with a little corn, tomato, and avacado salad with a roasted red pepper dressing.

The crust is crunchy and has that nice cornmeal flavor to it. This is a good pastry for someone who is not a baker. My only advice is keep the dough cold. It will make it easy to handle and easier to shape.

Crunchy Cornmeal Galette with Tomato & Basil

from Summer Supper cooking class with Joanne Weir

for more information about Joanne Weir's classes go to www.joanneweir.com

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, frozen for 1 hour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal or polenta, frozen for 1 hour

Coarse salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, frozen for 1 hour

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

3 ounces coarsely grated fontina

1/4 cup basil leaves, cut into thin strips

3 ripe but firm medium tomatoes, cored, thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

Place the flour, cornmeal and 1/2 teaspoon salt on a work surface. Add the butter to the flour with a pastry scraper, cut the butter until it is the size of peas and oatmeal. Alternately this step can be done in a food processor by pulsing several times.

Whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and 1/3 cup ice water and add a tablespoon at a time to the flour/cornmeal/butter mixture using a fork to toss and distribute the water. Add water until the dough holds together. If the dough does not hold together add more water a teaspoon at a time until the dough holds. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll the dough on a floured surface to make a 12 inch circle. Trim the edges to make a rough circle shape. Place on a baking sheet. This can be done several hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to finish.

In a bowl combine the cheeses and the basil. Spread the cheese over the dough leaving a 2 inch border along the edge. Place the tomatoes over the cheese overlapping slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the uncovered edge of the pastry over the cheese, pleating it to make it fit. Bake until golden brown, 35-45 minutes. After 5 minutes, slide the galette off the pan and unto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm, or room temperature.