Gallete français
Ingredients
Batter:
220g flour,
4 eggs,
2g salt,
480ml milk
Filling:
1 onion,
2 cloves garlic,
1 courgette,
1 aubergine,
5-6 artichoke hearts,
150 grams button mushrooms,
200 grams emmenthal cheese,
8 eggs,
Butter,
Olive oil,
Salt and pepper,
White wine,
Bechamel:
40 grams butter,
25 grams flour,
200 ml milk,
Salt and pepper,
Nutmeg,
Method:
1. Dice the courgette, slice the aubergine, slice the mushrooms, finely chop the onions and mince the garlic. Roughly chop the artichokes hearts.
2. Prepare the batter: sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt and add the eggs and gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Refrigerate.
3. Meanwhile, fry the courgette until golden in a a little olive oil and season. Reserve. Season the aubergine slices and fry (or grill) in a little olive oil until golden brown. Reserve. In the same pan, gently soften the onion, add the minced garlic and fry the mushrooms until golden, add a knob of butter and splash of white wine, reduce and reserve. Fry the artichoke until browned and a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan. Reserve.
4. After half and hour in the fridge begin to fry the galletes. You should be able to get 8-10, 12 inch galletes from the batter. Stack them up on top of each other and reserve.
5. Make the bechamel: melt butter in a frying pan, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes to make a roux. Gradually add milk and season with salt and pepper and nutmeg.
5. Preheat the oven to 180°C. On a baking tray, take a gallete and spread a tablespoon of bechamel across the whole diameter leaving an inch of pancake free. Add mushrooms and onions, some aubergine slices, some courgettes, and artichoke pieces. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Fold the corners of the gallete to encase the ingredients. You can use a bit of bechamel to stick the corners down. Make a well and add an egg. Sprinkle with more cheese, season and add a splash of olive oil. Repeat the process.
7. Oven bake until the egg is cooked and the cheese is bubbling and filling is piping hot. Serve immediately.
I was improvising this recipe so I don’t know if I could have done it better but the end result was surprising pleasant. While not even close to the ones I ate in Brittany as a teenager, they still satisfied the urge I has to eat vegetarian galletes and I consider the choice of ingredients to satisfy the tastes of most people vegetarian or non-vegetarian. I get the impression that wholewheat flour might be a good option for galletes and white for crepes. I thought that like a lot of French cooking, the elaboration was fairly long-winded and as I was improvising, I was trying to add a much cooking pizazz as I could. French cooking is hard. If you do it wrong, it sucks. But if you do it right, it is the best cuisine in the world!
What ingredients would you add?
by femininevampire