Kitchen therapy

Make the most of July’s bounty of tomatoes with this beautifully rustic, savoury galette

Tomato galette with cheddar pastry 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES + DRAINING + CHILLING + COOLING SERVES 4 6 | A LITTLE EFFORT |

tomatoes (a mix of heritage and cherry) 1.25kg, larger ones thickly sliced, smaller ones halved

extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp

garlic 3 cloves, thinly sliced

black peppercorns ground to make ½ tsp

sherry vinegar 2 tbsp

ricotta 250g

lemon 1, zested and juiced

egg 1, beaten

basil a handful of leaves

mixed salad leaves to serve

PASTRY

plain flour 125g, plus extra for dusting

wholemeal spelt flour 125g

unsalted butter 125g, cold and cubed

cheddar 75g, grated, plus extra for sprinkling

egg yolk 1

1 Heat the oven to 120C/fan 100C/gas 1. Tip all the tomatoes into a large roasting tin and season with plenty of salt. Drizzle over the oil, scatter with the garlic and black pepper, and drizzle over 1 tbsp of the sherry vinegar, then toss really well. Bake for 40 minutes until the tomatoes have shrunk a little and released a lot of liquid.

2 Gently spoon the tomatoes into a fine sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 15 minutes. Keep any tomato juices from the tray for later.

3 To make the pastry, put the flours, butter and 1/2 tsp of fine sea salt into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cheddar, egg yolk and 3 tbsp of ice-cold water, and pulse until it comes together into a dough (you may need to use a little more water). Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

4 Turn up the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured worksurface to an even 40cm circle, then trim to neaten. Carefully transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

5 Use scissors to make incisions around the pastry every 10cm – this will help the crust overlap and give a pleasing pattern.

6 Mix the ricotta with lots of seasoning and the lemon zest and juice, then spread this into the middle of the pastry. Spoon over the tomatoes, piling them up in the centre.

7 Fold up the edges of the pastry, slightly overlapping them over the edge of the tomatoes to make a crust. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg, then sprinkle more cheddar over the pastry.

8 Bake for 45 minutes until the pastry is a deep golden brown. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then scatter over the basil leaves and slice into wedges. Pour the remaining sherry vinegar into the reserved tomato juice and use this to dress the salad. Serve slices of the galette with some of the dressed leaves.