If you're looking for an all-star, show-stopping zucchini recipe, let me introduce you to the gluten-free summer vegetable galette. We've got thinly sliced zucchini, flavorful macadamia-cauliflower ricotta (or regular), fresh summer tomatoes, and a super-easy rustic pastry crust. You're gonna love it!
Recipe: $9.80 | Per Serving: $1.63 | Yield: 6
What is a Galette?
A galette is a free-form pie that originated in France. It is baked directly on a sheet pan rather than in a pie pan and has a more rustic and less polished look.
A galette is similar to a pie or a tart, but it's a bit less structured. It's made without a tin - the pastry dough creating the shell - and has a half-covering of dough on top that holds all of the goodies inside.
Why You'll Love This Summer Vegetable Galette
Easy: galettes are delicious and so are summer vegetables. I thought, why not create a paleo and gluten-free galette that's bursting with the vibrant flavors of zucchini and tomato?
Zucchini and tomato are two of summer's powerhouse veggies that are the perfect combination of delicious, nutritious, and refreshing. Throw cheese in there and you've got magic! In this recipe, I used macadamia-cauliflower ricotta cheese, but you can always use regular ricotta if you're not dairy-free.
What Makes this Galette Gluten-Free?
Gluten-free pastry is a tough nut to crack. I've been working on various versions for years and even if I get it right, I'll pass it along to a friend or recipe tester and they can't make it work. It took me several tweaks, but now I've had several testers make it and I'm sure it will work for you!
The ones I previously made with a great texture tend to use more of the starch-based flours rather than more whole food options, which is fine, but just not what I'm usually looking for.
The next obvious solution was to make a gluten-free pastry dough that's not meant to have perfectly laminated layers. One that has its own crispy, cragly, rustic appeal.
Ingredients to Make a Summer Vegetable Galette
Gluten-Free Pastry
To make this pastry, I've found the best starch to use is a combination of almond and arrowroot flour. Aside from that base, you'll need the "regular" dough ingredients like salt, cold butter, and an egg. For a touch of sweetness, you'll also need honey for your dough as well.
Galette Filling
For the filling, you'll need macadamia-cauliflower ricotta (or regular), fresh basil, tomato, zucchini, and cracked black pepper.
That's it! It's a pretty simple recipe when you see it broken down into segments. Get ready to wow your guests because your galette is sure to look and taste extravagant. They don't have to know it was easy to whip up!
First up: fresh summer tomatoes and zucchini. Slice them up and salt them just a bit and pair with a basil-spiked ricotta "cheese" that speaks for itself. Then lovingly wrap it up in a buttery crust. Perfection!
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Make the Pastry
You'll start by adding your dry ingredients into a food processor and pulsing to combine. Then you'll add the cold butter, honey, and egg (but reserve 2 teaspoons for your egg wash), and pulse until the dough forms.
It's totally fine if there are small chunks of butter remaining. If you don't have a food processor, you can combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and use a knife or pastry cutter to mix in the butter.
Then you'll let the dough chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Prepare the Veggies
Meanwhile, slice the zucchini and tomatoes and spread them out to salt them. The salting step helps reduce some of the moisture and softens the veggies so they take less time to cook. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Step 3: Spread Out the Dough and Place Veggies
Place parchment paper on a flat surface and roll the dough into a circle until it's about ¼th inch thick and 10-12 inches in circumference. Transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet where you'll spread your ricotta in the middle of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch margin around the outside like a crust.
Layer the zucchini and tomato slices in a concentric formation.
Step 4: Fold the Galette
Starting with the side closest to you, lift the parchment paper to fold the dough over the vegetables. Continue around the circle to gently fold the dough over the outer 1-2 inches of the vegetables. If anything tears, just press the dough back together to patch things up. Galettes are meant to be rustic!
Brush the dough (not exposed vegetables) with the egg wash and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the bottom is cooked through and not soggy.
Step 5: Garnish and Enjoy!
Once you remove the galette from the oven, top it with fresh cracked pepper and sliced fresh basil. Enjoy!
FAQ, Expert Tips & Dietary Modifications
You can salt your vegetables ahead of time, in fact, I recommend it. Salting helps to remove some moisture, but it also helps to break down the vegetables a bit so you don't have to cook your galette as long.
You can also prepare your dough ahead of time because it needs to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
I used the macadamia-cauliflower ricotta, which I love, but you should use whichever ricotta you prefer! I tried this with some store-bought dairy-free ricotta brands and I didn't like the taste at all. If you have a brand you like or you want to rock normal cow's milk ricotta, more power to you!
To use cow's milk ricotta, you may want to strain out some of the moisture to prevent a soggy bottom. See notes in the recipe card.
Most of the ingredients are pretty cheap staples already, but the macadamia nuts are pricy. Cheaper alternative ideas include cashew cheese, cow's milk ricotta, or even cottage cheese.
Tips and Variations
- I recommend choosing small to medium zucchinis, especially for things like zucchini bread or in this galette. The larger zucchinis are really watery and can cause soggy results.
- If zucchini and tomato aren't your favorite summer vegetable combo, feel free to substitute them for your favorites!
- If you aren't into ricotta or cottage cheese, mozzarella would probably be great in here too. You could make a Caprese-themed galette!
- If you aren't plant-based, you could also layer in a meat like prosciutto!
Dietary Modifications
Paleo: This recipe is paleo as long as you use a dairy-free butter like Miyokos, and dairy-free ricotta.
Vegetarian: Yep! 100% vegan.
Low FODMAP: Mostly, yes! The starches in the dough contain FODMAPs, but in such a small serving, it should be well tolerated.
Related Recipes
Here are some other zucchini and tomato recipes you may enjoy:
- Zucchini, Chorizo, and Black Bean Breakfast Skillet
- Low Sugar Zucchini Bread (gluten-free, paleo)
- 3-Ingredient Zucchini Boats to Bolognese
- Dairy-Free Zucchini Rollatini
- Savory Summer Zucchini Galette (gluten-free, paleo) ---> this one!
And guess what...I even have a sweet Cinnamon Apple Pie Galette you can try for dessert!
I had such a fun time testing and tweaking this recipe and I hope you get a chance to try it! Let me know what you think, and don't forget to leave a comment and star rating down below!
Find me on Instagram to follow along on my cooking and travel adventures, and please feel free to tag me so I can see your delicious galette creations!
Gluten-Free Summer Vegetable Galette
Ingredients
For the Pastry:
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ cup arrowroot flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons cold butter Miyokos keeps it dairy-free, cut into 12 cubes
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 egg whisked, with 2 teaspoons reserved for brushing on top
For the Galette:
- ½ cup macadamia-cauliflower ricotta or other ricotta
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil + more for topping
- 1 large heirloom tomato
- 1 medium zucchini
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
For the Pastry:
- Add dry ingredients (almond flour, arrowroot, salt) to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter, honey, and egg (less 2 teaspoons reserved for egg wash). Pulse until a dough forms. Small chunks of butter remaining are perfectly fine!
- Alternatively you can combine ingredients in a bowl and use a pastry cutter or knife to mix in the butter.
- Let chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice the zucchini and tomatoes into slices about ¼ inch or thinner. Spread out and salt. This will help reduce some of the moisture and also softens the vegetables so you don't have to cook it as long.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Place parchment paper on flat surface. Roll the dough into a circle until about ¼th inch thick. It should make a 10-12 inch circle/oval. Transfer parchment paper to a sheet pan / baking sheet.
- Spread the ricotta mixture in a circle in the middle of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch margin around the outside.
- Layer the zucchini and tomato slices in concentric spiraling formation (see images above).
- Starting with the side closest to you, lift the parchment paper to fold the dough over the vegetables (see images above). Continue around the circle to gently fold the dough over the outer 1-2 inches of the vegetables, forming pleats. If anything tears or if vegetables poke through, just press the dough back together. You can also pull extra dough from the center to patch things up. Remember: galettes are meant to be rustic!
- Use a pastry brush to for the egg wash, which means you brush the remaining whisked egg over the top of the pastry. (But not over the vegetables.) Without a pastry brush, you may be able to use a spoon or your fingers.
- Bake the galette on 375ºF for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown and bottom is cooked through and NOT soggy.
- Top with fresh cracked paper and sliced fresh basil.
Notes
Nutrition
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I'd never had a galette until this recipe! Now I'm a huge fan!
Yay!! I'm so glad to hear that. It's so simple but also gorgeous, right? :)