I spend an awful lot of time thinking about food, the natural extension of this being that I also spend an awful lot of time searching the internet for new and exciting recipes.  Most of this investigation focusses itself on a variety of food blogs, some of which I have followed for years.

Now, time for a small confession.  Despite all the hours spent pouring over hundreds of mouth-watering recipes I always seem to fall back on a small collection of ‘go-to’ cook books (Jerusalem, Honestly Healthy, What Katie Ate to name just a few).

So, this week I decided to challenge myself to make something different.
Smittenkitchen.com is a favourite blog of mine and chronicles the food made by Deb Perelman in her quintessentially small New York kitchen.  She has an intriguing ‘surprise-me’ function on her blog which, when clicked, throws up a random recipe from her archives. Yes, that’s right, I decided to play food roulette and make whatever it was that appeared when I pressed the button. You can’t say I don’t live my life in the fast lane.

I was presented with the recipe for a delicious Tomato, Courgette & Corn Galette which, luckily for me, is not such a departure from what I’d normally choose to make – but with the added task of having to make pastry from scratch (panicked face).

I was pretty pleased with how the galette turned out (I was convinced that homemade pastry plus vegetables with a high water-content would equal a soggy disaster) and would definitely make it again.  It’s like a more sophisticated version of a pizza and would be perfect as part of a casual lunch buffet – I paired mine with a peppery salad.

Feeds 6-8.

INGREDIENTS:
PASTRY // 160g plain flour // 1/4 teaspoon salt // 113g cold unsalted butter; diced // 60g plain yoghurt // 10ml lemon juice // 60ml ice water
FILLING // 1 tbsp olive oil // 1/4 teaspoon salt // 450g mixed colour cherry tomatoes // large handful of corn, cut from the cob // 225g courgette; diced // 80g spring onions; thinly sliced // 55g grated parmesan
GLAZE // 1 egg yolk whisked together with 1 tsp water

METHOD:
PASTRY // Mix the flour with the salt in a large bowl.  Add the cold, diced butter and lightly rub together with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.  In another bowl mix together the yoghurt, lemon juice and water and then add it to the butter/flour mixture.   Using your fingers, work into a ball of dough.  Wrap with cling-film and pop in the fridge for at least an hour.
NB // I had to add another handful or two of flour to the pastry mixture to work it into a dough as it was just so sticky and wet – this addition didn’t seem to make any difference to the end result.

FILLING // Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan and add the tomatoes and salt.  Cover with a lid and cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes until the tomato skins are seared and split in places.  Remove the lid and add the courgette and corn.  They’ll only need to cook on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir the spring onions through.  Leave to cool completely before assembling the galette.

ASSEMBLY & COOKING // Preheat your oven to 200°.  Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a rough circle of about 30cm in diameter (the charm of this tart lies in its rustic appearance so don’t worry too much about achieving the perfect shape!)
Carefully transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle half of the parmesan over the vegetables and spoon the mixture into the centre of the dough (leaving behind any liquid that has puddled in the plate).  Fold in the outer edges of the pastry to create a crust and brush with the glaze.  Scatter the last of the parmesan over the vegetables and the glazed crust.
This needs around 35min in the oven – until a golden crust has formed.  Let stand for 5min before serving.