It’s been a while — that’s pretty obvious and yet I feel compelled to say it. We’ve been taking it easy. After a good 3+ years on the road, Ilana and I both moved into our own apartments.
I’m learning that “settling down” is its own kind of adventure. Leaning into the mundanities of daily life - all the things I missed while traveling, like waking up in the same disheveled sheets and drinking coffee from the same French press, rings on the wood from the mug, dirty dishes, dust. There’s a burrowing to it all that feels a little animalistic - arranging books on the shelves, rugs on the floor, pottery in the cabinets like the sticks and leaves of a literal nest.
My kitchen is tiny. I like things simple. When I first moved in, I ate a lot of Greek salads, when the summer peppers and cucumbers were still overflowing at the market - slowly getting tougher, fewer, as the months moved in fallen leaves and layered clothing and then (as if from nowhere) the unshakeable chill of New York winters. Now, save a 70-degree weekend in January that felt so apocalyptic it was almost impossible to enjoy, I’ve been eating a lot of soup and drinking a lot of tea and my tiny kitchen has a lot of root vegetables in it.
This root vegetable galette is a bit of a beloved recipe for me and Ilana — originally birthed from the brain of Tara Jensen. A couple years back, when we first baked bread with Tara at Smoke Signals, she made us something similar for lunch - a thick crust made with good flour and brushed with egg wash, filled with a pile of roasted roots and kale. I still remember that meal, outside at her old porch in North Carolina as it was starting to snow, sliced as soon as it came out of the wood oven, steam wafting into our noses.
Ilana has been making this tart in various forms since then - usually for Tara’s bread workshops and retreats, but often at home, too. Sometimes it’s a mixture of fennel, potatoes, onions, and kale — other times, every imaginable root vegetable or the dregs of the produce drawer. It’s a great way to use up odds and ends and anything past its prime in the fridge. Her biggest takeaways: onion is key — red, yellow, white or even scallions — and rye flour adds a beautiful grassy flavor to the dough.
Last October, she and I cooked the meals for Tara’s retreats as a team — and served this tart with a big bowl of garlicky tzatziki.
More recently, I made it in my tiny kitchen, rolling the dough out with a wine bottle (I have yet to buy a rolling pin), and filled with various root vegetables from our friends at Local Roots - a New York-based CSA that pulls from local, organic, regenerative-when-possible farms to bring vibrant produce year-round. Yukon gold potatoes, watermelon radishes, purple turnips, and butternut squash - plus a bunch of stunning rainbow chard and some purple beets I’d picked up from a trip to Stone Barns. This recipe is flexible; use what you see or what you have.
The dough is pretty simple and easy to make - and particularly delicious when made with good flour. Try to get some whole grain flour from the farmer’s market if you can - if you can’t find local, we like Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur which are both available at the grocery store. You can also order flour online from Camas Country Mill or Breadtopia - try the bolted flours for a little more flavor (it maintains a portion of the bran and germ with larger pieces sifted out so it’s finer than whole grain).
Root Vegetable Galette
Serves: 8 (cut into thick slices)
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and coat with flour.
Rub the butter into the flour mixture until the chunks are the size of a pea or pistachio. Slowly drizzle in the ice water (holding back the ice, starting with 1/4 cup). Mix together until it forms a shaggy ball, add more water as needed. The dough should hold together consistently but should not be sticky, the butter should remain in chunks. Be careful not to over hydrate the dough or over mix, this will result in a tough, dense dough.
Pat down into a flattened disc, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
FOR THE DOUGH
1 cup all-purpose or pastry flour*
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rye flour
3/4 cup grass-fed butter, cut into small cubes and kept cold
1 tbs sugar (optional)
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup - 1 cup ice water
Parmesan or another hard cheese (optional)
TO BAKE
Preheat oven to 400 F
Roll out the dough on a floured surface, don’t be afraid to make a mess. You need a dusting of flour and to constantly flip and move the dough to ensure it does not stick to the counter. Roll out to a bit thicker than 1/8 inch in a somewhat oval shape, this does not need to be perfect, in fact it shouldn’t be. Rough edges and extra bits coming off the shape are great for folding.
Transfer dough to a lined sheet pan, fill the center with cooled vegetables (tossed with the optional greens). Fold the edges up over the filling and over itself, leaving the center open with a thick edge of crust. Mix the egg wash and brush over the top of the dough. If using cheese, use a microplane to grate it over the crust and filling.
Bake on the middle rack for 40 - 60 minutes or until the dough is browned across the top and the bottom dough no longer looks wet.
Let cool for 10-30 minutes, slice, and serve with a generous dollop of tzatziki.
FOR THE FILLING
2 cups cooled, mixed roasted root vegetables (try beets, radishes, sweet potatoes, fennel, onion, soft-skinned potatoes, turnips, and squash - cut into roughly 1/2 inch cubes and tossed all together with olive oil & salt, roast at 425 F until tender)
1 packed cup torn raw kale, chard, or spinach - any hearty green will do(optional)
EGG WASH
1 egg yolk (save the white for a scramble)
1/4 cup cream or dairy-free milk
Notes*
This dough is exceptional with the addition of rye and whole grain flour but will work with 100% all-purpose flour. If you’re hesitant to use this much whole grain and rye you can also start by subbing just 1/4-1/2 cup with either for added flavor and seeing how you like it!
Dill Tzatziki
Serves: 8
(as a side dish / condiment)
1 small English cucumber (or half a large cucumber)
2 cups good Greek yogurt (we like Grass-fed Stonyfield or full-fat Fage)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bunch dill, large stem removed
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Finely chop the garlic or grate it on a microplane, add it to the yogurt. This is best if it sits for 30 minutes or so to marinate.
Grate the cucumber on a cheese grater. Alternatively, chop into roughly 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch cubes.
Finely chop the dill. Add dill and cucumber to the garlicky yogurt.
Season with salt to taste - it shouldn’t need more than a pinch. Add the oil and stir. Serve.