Fig & Goat Cheese Galette
The perfect appetizer for fig season. The goat cheese is seasoned with garlic and chives, and the figs are tossed in a brown sugar balsamic vinaigrette on top of a flakey rough pastry. Drizzle with regular or hot honey.
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If you’ve never made a galette before, I am delighted to be the one to introduce them to you. They are a rustic pie made without a standard pie mold. Instead of sharp edges, you lean into the free form approach and leave a boarder to fold over so that the filling is tucked safely in the crust. Galettes can be made sweet or savory, and are my favorite trick to pull out for unique twist on dessert.
Since it’s fig season, I’ve been dreaming of a way to pair it in a galette with its best friend: goat cheese. Admittedly, appetizers are a category that I think the least about. Since realizing that charcuterie boards are not the thing for every event, I have decided to work on more recipes for appetizers. This sweet and savory galette is just the thing for the Fall.
This recipe starts with a ridiculously flakey rough puff pastry (an excellent recipe if you want to make pot pie) which is chilled in the freezer while you make the filling. The whole thing is baked in the oven until the pastry browns and the figs caramelize. When it is fresh from the oven, I highly recommend drizzling it with honey (or hot honey if you like a kick).
Why you’ll love this recipe
It is the perfect mix of savory and sweet. When I made it for my mom, she said “It can’t decide if it wants to be savory or sweet.” Exactly!
The goat cheese is mellow enough that even non-goat cheese eaters will like it (confirmed again, by my mom who enjoyed it even though she is a lifelong goat cheese not liker). In fact, if you don’t like goat cheese, but want to learn to like it it, I’d say that you should definitely try this recipe.
It is an excellent but not too rich appetizer for your Fall get togethers.
You get to eat puff pastry, which is always a delight.
Ingredients
Rough Puff Pastry
2 1/2 cups (300gr) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 12 oz) unsalted butter, cubed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup ice water
1 egg, for egg wash
Herbed Goat Cheese
10.5 oz log plain goat cheese
1/4 cup greek yogurt (nonfat or full fat)
1 egg
1/3 cup roughly chopped chives
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Marinated Figs
1 pound (454gr) figs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Pinch salt
Step-By-Step Directions
Start by adding the flour to a food processor. If you are measuring by volume, fluff the flour with a fork or whisk, and use a spoon to scoop into a measuring cup. Level by scraping the flat side of a butter knife across the top. This helps you not overmeasure the flour, because flour compacts when it is stored. If you have too much flour in your crust, it will be hard to achieve that beautiful flakiness. Measure by weight for most consistent results.
Cut cold butter into 1/2 inch cubes, and add to the flour. Then add the salt. Pulse for 30 -60 seconds until the butter is about the size of peas (see the lumps in the below picture). If you don't have a food processor, you can freeze the butter for 15 minutes, and then grate it with a cheese grater (not the very fine size, but the standard cheese size). Getting the butter into small pieces helps the pastry be as flaky as possible.
Make some ice water by adding a handful of ice and one cup of cold water to a measuring cup. Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl, and add 1/2 cup ice water. Mix thoroughly (I like to use a large fork), then add 1/4 cup more and mix again. Add the remaining 1/4 cup 1 tablespoon at a time (you may not need all of the water). Mix after adding each tablespoon, and once the dough starts to come together, stop adding more water and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. If you need to add more water because the dough is looking too dry, you can do so by lightly sprinkling over one tablespoon at a time.
Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll it out into a 12 inch by 9 inch rectangle, then fold in half. Repeat this 2-3 more times, adding more flour to the surface if it sticks.
Then form the dough into a small disc, and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 20 minutes, and then move to the freezer until you're ready to roll it out. You can store in the fridge for up to three days before using.
While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Now make the goat cheese filling. Add the goat cheese, greek yogurt, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper to a food processor and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can just mix in a medium size bowl with a wooden spoon or large rubber spatula until smooth.
Then add the chives, and pulse until its finely chopped. In the picture, I added them at the beginning, and it turned the cheese more of a green color, but I think it would be prettier if you added them later and had the contrast of the white and green flecks. If you don’t have a food processor, finely mince the chives before adding to the goat cheese mixture.
Now prepare the figs to marinate. Add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
Trim the stem off the figs. Then cut into 1/8" slices and place into the bowl with the marinade. Toss thoroughly to combine. Some of my figs were a bit soggy, so I didn’t use those, and probably ended up using closer to 13 oz of figs, which was barely enough for the tart.
While the figs are marinating roll out the crust. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly larger than the half sheet pan so that it has about a 2" boarder on all sides. Don't worry about straight edges on the dough, it contributes to the rustic look of the galette.
Transfer the crust to the prepared pan, and use an offset spatula to spread the goat cheese mixture evenly. Then place the figs evenly on the tart without overlapping (you may have a few extra, that's okay).
Make egg wash by combining one egg with 1 tablespoon of water
Fold the edges of the crust over, and brush with egg wash.
Bake on the center rack in the oven. Check at 25 minutes, and rotate. Use a spatula to check the bottom and see if it is browning. Move it to the bottom rack to help it brown for 10-15 minutes until all the pastry is golden brown.
Remove from the oven, and top with spicy honey (or regular honey). Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve within 1-2 hours.
Questions
Can I make this ahead of time?
You can make the crust 2-3 days ahead of time, but I would make the goat cheese mixture and marinate the figs the same day you plan to cook. The chives can brown after they are cut, and the figs would get soggy if they sit in the marinade for too long.
Can this be made gluten-free?
If you can find a pre-made gluten free puff pastry, then start there. In my experience, gluten free pastry is really hard to get right, so I would use a store bought version. I also found this recipe online for gluten free puff pastry from The Loopy Whisk that might work for you.
Why did butter leak out of the pastry?
You will probably have a small amount of leakage, which is hard to avoid, but you shouldn’t see a lot of extra pools of butter leftover in the pan. There are three reasons this happens:
The crust did not chill for long enough. Chilling in the freezer and using ingredients as cold as possible helps the butter stay cold and not melt before baking. If you let the crust sit out after rolling out and your home is warm, chill the assembled galette in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking.
You over-mixed the dough. You should be able to see little dabs of butter in the crust when you roll it out. If you can’t, you either overmixed it in the food processor or kneaded it for too long, and the heat from your hands melted the butter.
Your oven was not hot enough. If your oven temperature guage is inaccurate or not fully heated, the butter will simply leak out before the water gets a chance to evaporate and create those beautiful layers. Avoid this next time by having an oven thermometer (cheap and can be found in grocery stores) to double check the temperature and giving the oven at least 30 minutes to pre-heat. Most ovens aren’t quite at the temperature they say they are done preheating, especially when you have to open the door to put in what you’re baking and all the hot air escapes.
More questions or love the recipe? Write your reviews below!
Savory Goat Cheese & Fig Galette
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add flour (fluff the flour with a fork if measuring by volume) to a food processor. Add the cubed butter and salt. Pulse for 30 seconds until the butter is about the size of peas. If you don't have a food processor, you can freeze the butter for 15 minutes, and then grate it with a cheese grater.
- Pour flour mixture into a large bowl, and add 1/2 cup ice water. Mix thoroughly, then add 1/4 cup more and mix again. Add the remaining 1/4 cup 1 tablespoon at a time (you may not need all of the water).
- Dust a surface with flour, and pour the dough out onto it once the dough starts to come together. Once you get the dough into a shaggy ball, roll it out into a 12 inch by 9 inch rectangle, then fold in half. Repeat this 2-3 more times, adding more flour to the surface if it sticks.
- Then form the dough into a small disc, and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 20 minutes, and then move to the freezer until you're ready to roll it out.
- While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add goat cheese, greek yogurt, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Then add the chives, and pulse until its finely chopped.
- Now prepare the figs.
- Add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Trim the stem off the figs. Then cut into 1/8" slices and place into the bowl with the marinade. Toss to combine.
- While the figs are marinating roll out the dough.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly longer than the half sheet pan so that it has a 2" border on all sides. Don't worry about straight edges on the dough, it contributes to the rustic look of the galette.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, and spread the goat cheese mixture evenly across, leaving the 2" border.
- Place the figs evenly on the tart without overlapping (you may have a few extra, that's okay).
- Make egg wash by combining one egg with 1 tablespoon of water and whisking.
- Fold the extra crust over all of the edges, and brush with egg wash.
- Bake on the center rack in the oven. Check at 25 minutes, and rotate. Check the bottom to see if it is browning, and move it to the bottom rack to help it brown for 10-15 minutes until all the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set.
- Top with spicy honey drizzle. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
If you don't have a food processor, you can grate frozen butter for the dough.
Don't skip chilling the dough, or you will miss the flakey crust and the butter will all leak out.
You can also use a wooden spoon and some elbow grease to combine the goat cheese mixture, and finely mince the chives before adding them.
