Puttanesca Galette with Lemon Ricotta From Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh

"Those of you who follow my column will know that my husband, David, doesn’t get too excited about food. When I met him, he had about four ‘dishes’ in his repertoire and would rotate these over the week. It did make shopping easy, I have to admit. But he does enjoy puttanesca pasta. And when I discover one of those rare foods that get him, if not excited, then at least interested, I can’t resist trying to create permutations that might pique his interest further. This galette is one of them. It has everything he loves in a puttanesca – olives, anchovies, capers, tomato, garlic – while the ricotta blobs offer creamy contrast to the intensity of the flavours. The galette is good warm or cold. It makes a lovely light lunch with a green salad on the side. Leftovers can be heated in a hot oven for a few minutes. To use David’s words when he first tasted it: ‘It’s quite good.’ High praise indeed!" Helen Goh.

‘Images and text from Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh, Photography by Laura Edwards. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.’ 

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)

Wholemeal pastry

• 175 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out the pastry
• 70 g plain wholemeal flour
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 30 g parmesan cheese, grated
• 150 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into 4–5 cm pieces
• 30 ml full-cream milk, cold
• 30 ml water, ice-cold
• ¾ teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Lemon ricotta filling

• 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 3 onions (about 450 g), peeled and thinly sliced
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1½ tablespoons thyme leaves
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
• ¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 150 g ricotta cheese
• 20 g anchovy fillets (about 8), finely chopped finely grated zest of 1 large lemon (reserve the lemon to serve)
• 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved

Olive and caper topping

• 110 g pitted black olives, chopped
• 30 g small capers, roughly chopped
• 10 g flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Glaze

• 1 small egg

METHOD 

1. Begin by making the pastry: place the flours, salt, pepper and parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and process for about 30 seconds to combine. Add the butter and process for another 30 seconds, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. Add the milk, water and vinegar or lemon juice, then pulse until the dough just starts to come together in uneven clumps.
2. Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for a few seconds to bring it together into a ball. Wrap the ball loosely in plastic wrap, then press to flatten it into a disc. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes (but it will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days).
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions and salt over medium–low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 12 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the thyme, garlic and chilli and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
4. Combine the ricotta, chopped anchovies and lemon zest in a small bowl. Smoosh some of the anchovies into the ricotta with the back of a spoon and stir well to combine, then set aside.
5. Make the olive and caper topping by putting all the ingredients except the olive oil in a small bowl, then set aside. The oil will go in later.
6. Preheat the oven to 190˚C fan-forced
7. Remove the disc of dough from the fridge. If it has been in the fridge for more than a few hours, leave it on the kitchen bench for about 10 minutes to soften a little. Lightly dust a large sheet of baking paper with flour, and lightly flour the bench too. The dough will be larger than the baking paper once rolled out.
8. Place the dough disc on the flour-dusted baking paper. Roll the dough out evenly into a large circle, about 40 cm wide and 2 mm thick. Don’t worry if it is slightly misshapen – that’s the beauty of galettes, they can be irregular! But do try to roll to an even thickness, as this will ensure the galette bakes evenly. Transfer the circle, along with the baking paper underneath, onto a large baking tray. It won’t all fit on the tray yet, but it will once the edges are folded in.
9. With a small offset spatula or spoon, spread about two-thirds of the ricotta mix in a thin layer all over the pastry circle and right up to the edges. Now scatter the onions all over the pastry, leaving a 4–5 cm clear border all around. Then, spoon about half of the olive and caper topping all around the perimeter of the onions, leaving the ricotta border clear. Scatter the tomatoes, cut-side up, all over the tart, again leaving the border clear. Finally, use a teaspoon to dollop small mounds of the remaining ricotta mixture all over the filling, then carefully draw the pastry border up and over the top, roughly pleating it as you go, and leaving the centre of the galette exposed.
10. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl and use a small pastry brush to paint it evenly over the pastry border. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, add the olive oil to the remaining olive and caper topping and spoon over the tart. Serve with lemon wedges.