Rustic Apple-Cheddar Galette

Apples are sweet and tart, and cheese is salty with plenty of umami. Think about these flavors with a drizzle of maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon thrown in for good measure. Then put them all in a buttery, cheddar-speckled crust. WOW! Your taste buds will fire on all cylinders when you taste this autumn galette.

Yield Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 1/2 cups (200g) all purpose flour
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1 1/2 t. sugar
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 T. sour cream (full fat, not light)
  • 2 T. finely grated sharp cheddar cheese


Filling

  • 4 med cooking apples, such as McIntosh, Pippin, Golden Delicious, Jonathan,  Fuji, Granny Smith (I use a combination of Granny Smith and Fuji)
  • 1/2 t. lemon zest
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 T. maple syrup
  • 2  t. corn starch
  • 1 t. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed grated cheddar cheese

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Directions

Crust
Cut the butter into cubes. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour.

Using clean hands, squish the flour and butter together, breaking up the butter into smaller pieces until the mixture resembles a rather shaggy coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter. Add the sour cream and a couple tablespoons of finely grated sharp cheddar cheese and stir with a fork until incorporated.

Gather the mixture with your hands and form a ball. Shape the ball into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to a day ahead.

Filling
Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C).

Prepare a large bowl half filled with water. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the water adding the squeezed lemon too.

Peel, quarter, and core the apples, and place into the acidulated water. Remove the apple quarters, one at a time, from the water. Slice each apple quarter into 4 or 5 slices, lengthwise. Return the apple slices to the acidulated water.

When all apple quarters are sliced, drain them well. Place the apple slices back in the now empty bowl. Sprinkle with maple syrup and cinnamon and gently toss so that the apple slices are lightly coated with both. Add the corn starch and the lemon zest. Gently toss again.

On a clean, lightly floured, flat surface, place the disk of dough. Roll out with a rolling pin to an even thickness and about 14 inches wide.

Gently move the rolled out pastry dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. Starting from 2 inches from the perimeter of the pastry round, arrange the apple slices, side by side, in a circular pattern, filling the circle.

Sprinkle the top of the apples with grated cheddar cheese. Gently fold the dough up over the apple slices, forming pleats with the dough every few inches.

Place an egg in a small bowl with a teaspoon of water, beat with a fork or whisk until smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over just the exposed border of the dough. Sprinkle the egg washed crust with coarse sugar.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 400°F until the galette begins to brown Then lower the temperature to 375°F and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the apples are cooked through and the crust is nicely browned.

Cool until just slightly warm before serving. Good with vanilla bean ice cream!