Picture this: A cheesy, flaky pie dough. Are you with me so far? This cheesy dough is scattered with onions caramelized with butter and bourbon – Then topped with gruyere cheese. All these goodies are in this Caramelized Onion & Gruyère Galette. A rustic, easy to make pie with so much flavor – Stopping at one slice will prove near impossible!
Last night The Walking Dead premiered its 7th season. And I have to say, I’m still in a fetal position. I vacillate between, the makers of this series went too far – And not far enough. If you haven’t watched this week’s episode, I will post no spoilers. Come back when you’ve watched it. Unclench, straighten from the fetal position, and wipe your tears. We’ll get through this together.
I am here.
For you.
Woo, man. SHIT! I’m sure most of us will never view Denny Duquette the same way again. And can we talk about Jeffrey Dean Morgan for a second? I’ve harbored an ill crush on him since he appeared in P.S. I love you. And now he plays Negan – the worst villain on TV. Like the worst villain ever. You can blend a group of villains and still not get one Negan out of it. I have to say this, I’ll be surprised if he’s not a mega star following this role. The way he plays Negan is superb. He strikes the right amount of fear and hatred in your heart. I’m going to love hating him. And of course, at times I’ll feel oddly attracted to him because, duh – He’s sexy as hell.
But back to you, Walking Dead fan. You are grieving, as am I. And you need comfort. As do I. You need a meal that requires a bit of… A bit of babysitting. You need something to take watch over. Something to keep your hands busy and your attention diverted. Something to make this world right again. Or as right as it will get following last night’s episode.
Let’s make a Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Galette. Now, wait a minute – I know this sounds fancy. It is, however, very easy to make.
First you make a pie dough. Did I lose you? Come back! Don’t worry, this pie dough takes about 5 minutes to make in a food processor. You blend flour, butter, salt, sugar, and Gruyere cheese together. Yes, there’s cheese in the dough. We’re going for mega comfort here. You need it! The dough is bound with a little ice water. I mean it, this takes minutes. The dough is left to chill while you caramelize onions.
Caramelizing onions is THE MOST satisfying task you will complete in the kitchen. Just trust me on this one. You will stir occasionally, yet watching like a hawk for a straight hour as onions go from Lilly white, to a deep amber color. And the scent is phenomenal. Yes, it will take about an hour to get there. And once you’re there – Once you have achieved the coveted amber hue, we add bourbon to the onions. Yes, bourbon. Our onions need a drink too, boo.
Let that reduce.
Let them cool.
Eat some.
They’re so good.
Roll your pie dough. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Spoon your onions over that cheesy pie dough. Sprinkle cheese – Gruyère and Parmesan over that shit. And top with more onions. The dough is pleated over the onions, leaving the center exposed. Again, doesn’t have to be perfect.
Brush with egg wash.
Bake.
There’s that scent again.
Don’t think about what went down in TWD.
Don’t think about it.
You can’t deal with your feelings yet. It’s a process. Five stages and all that.
Remove the galette from the oven. The onions have caramelized further with the aid of your oven. The cheese has melted.
Allow it to cool a bit before you slice into this bad boy. And you WILL slice into that bad boy.
And then you’ll eat your feelings. And that’s OK.
You are still processing.
You have a friend in me. And a savory pie situation.
[purerecipe]
Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Galette
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour spoon then leveled
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/4 tablespoons Granulated sugar
- ½ cup 1 stick Unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 2 1/2 ounces Freshly grated Gruyere cheese
- 3-4 tablespoons Ice water
- 1 egg beaten (for brushing dough)
For the galette
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 VERY large cut in halved and thinly sliced Spanish Onions
- Salt to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons Bourbon
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup Finely grated gruyere cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons Finely grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Make the pie crust:
- About an hour before you plan to make your pie crust, place the butter cubes in the freezer. The colder the butter, the better your chances of achieving a nice flaky crust.
- Once your butter is sufficiently chilled – Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. I have one of those itty bitty ones for this purpose. Pulse about 5 times until flour, salt, and sugar are combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses total. Add the gruyere and pulse about 5-6 more times. You should be left with quite a few pea size pieces of butter. And that is cool.
- Remove ice from your water, if any – And add 2 tablespoons of water to the food processor and pulse 2-3 times. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing with each addition. The mixture should just barely clump together at this point, yet have a crumbly look to it. Test by pinching some of the dough and if it comes together, then it’s ready to use. If not, keep adding one tablespoon of water at a time, giving it 2-3 pulses each time. I’ve made this crust many times and it’s never taken more than 4 tablespoons of water. Make sure you don’t add too much; otherwise your crust won’t be flaky.
- Turn the crumbly dough over a lightly flour surface and gather it into a rough circle. Handle the dough as carefully as possible so as not to activate too much gluten which can toughen your pie crust. Your pie crust should be dotted with gorgeous pieces of butter and cheese.
- Lightly sprinkle flour over surface of the dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill. If using the dough another day, place in the freezer. When ready to use, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. Dough keeps well in the freezer for about a month. While dough is chilling, caramelize the onions.
Caramelize the onions:
- Melt the butter in a very large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently until softened and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the onions, stirring every few minutes for about 45-50 minutes, scraping all the brown bits and incorporating them into the onions. This will help the onions achieve a rich caramel color. Lightly season with salt. Increase the heat to medium/high. Add bourbon and cook until the bourbon has evaporated, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow onions to cool completely.
Assemble and bake the galette:
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and set a large cookie sheet on your counter. Tape the corners of a rectangular sheet of parchment paper on your counter and lightly flour it.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and turn it over the lightly floured rectangle of parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle the top with flour and with a rolling pin, roll a circle that’s roughly 12-14 inches in diameter and about 1/8 of an inch thick, giving the dough a quarter turn as you roll. To make sure the dough doesn’t stick underneath, lift the dough every couple of turns and lightly sprinkle with flour underneath as needed. If your circle doesn’t turn out perfect, that is OK. We’re not going for perfection here. You can place the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or proceed with the next step.
- Spoon all except for about 2-3 tablespoons of the caramelized onions in the center of the pie dough, and spread it with a small offset spatula or a spoon, leaving about a 2 inch border. Sprinkle the cheese over the onions. Top with remaining caramelized onions. Fold the border over the caramelized onion/cheese mixture, pleating the edges as best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The middle of the galette should remain open.
- Remove tape from sides of parchment paper and carefully transfer the parchment with the prepared galette onto the cookie sheet. Brush the edges of the galette with beaten egg. Place cookie sheet in the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and the pie dough edges are a nice golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
- Remove galette from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
