Seattle is such a neighborhood city. What I mean is that each little pocket of a neighborhood has a very distinct personality and everyone thinks their neighborhood is THE best, down to actually having zip code bumper stickers. I’m not kidding, it’s pretty fantastic. It’s been so fun exploring them all since moving here.

A few weeks ago I went with my friend Holly to a Cookie Mix Throwdown…yes, I did say a Cookie Mix Throwdown…at Marx Foods in lower Queen Anne where I stuffed my face with far too many of Not Without Salt’s delicious chocolate chip cookies (as well as this and this) and then walked around eyeing (read: drooling over) everything in the shop. Honestly, I was so overwhelmed that I think I walked out with a bar of chocolate. But I went back. The shop is so charming, all of the staff I’ve met were so kind and knowledgeable, and they carry some amazing stuff. Specialty meats, a lot of local products, edible flowers and they have more on their website. The short of it is it’s super awesome, if you live in Seattle you should go and if you don’t, it’s lucky for you they ship.

Because my blog is about 5 seconds old I figured it was time for a contest, right? Marx Foods is hosting a Breakfast Challenge where 4 local bloggers create a recipe using their products and you, yes you, get to choose the winner here. I’m probably brunch’s biggest fan but hosting sometimes overwhelms me; especially first-thing-in-the-morning hosting; so I created a recipe that could be prepped in advance to make hosting less stressful and more delicious.

This is by far my favorite pastry dough recipe. It works. Every. Single. Time. It’s easy to make, even easier to work with and so flaky you’ll want to cry. I’d never worked with duck fat before but I love the addition for a savory crust. If you ever want to try it in a sweet recipe, just up the sugar a pinch and use all butter.

I’ve been dreaming of the quiche from Tiny Boxwood’s in Houston lately, and this galette would probably be that quiche’s second cousin. Also a little note about quiche, when I worked at Tiny’s (a long time ago) someone asked what was in the quiche…normal question, right? But pronounced it ‘qwee-shee’. Seriously, ‘What’s in your qwee-shee?’, and now I can’t say or read the word ‘quiche’ without thinking about that.

So, this galette. Sweet caramelized onions and Italian sausage fried with sage and porcini mushrooms all hanging out in a flaky duck fat pastry crust filled with Gruyere that sort of melts into the crust. I topped it with a fresh-from-my-neighbor’s-chickens just set egg, microgreens and Jacobsen salt. Not only is it super delicious, you can prep everything in advance. So…wake up Saturday morning, turn on oven, make coffee, brush crust with cream, drink coffee, and put in the oven. That’s seriously it. Serve with a simple salad or some fruit and brunch is done.

A quick thank you to Marx Foods for providing the amazing Italian sausage, duck fat, dried porcini mushrooms, microgreens and Jacobsen salt. Everything was so, so good!

If you’d like to cast your vote for my recipe, you can do so here. Thanks so much!

italian sausage and gruyere galette with duck fat crust

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

3 hours

 

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 pastry crust, recipe below
  
• For caramelized onions
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Butter (options)
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp red wine, balsamic vinegar or water, for deglazing
  
• For the filling
• ½ c whole dried porcini mushrooms
• About ½ lb Link Lab mild italian sausage
• 3 tsp roughly chopped fresh sage
• 1 c freshly grated Gruyere
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ c Farmbox Greens microgreens
• Jacobsen salt, for finishing
• Cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Make caramelized onions Heat a wide cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of olive oil and/or butter and heat until oil is shimmering. Add onions and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan every 5-10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add a pinch or two of salt and stir. Cook for an additional 30+ minutes, until onions are a rich golden brown. Deglaze the pan with wine, balsamic or water, stirring the liquid into the onions. Remove from heat and cool, storing in the refrigerator until ready for use (can be made up to 5 days in advance).
2. Make sausage, mushroom and sage filling Fill a small bowl with room temperature water and soak dehydrated mushrooms, set aside. After 10-15 minutes, rinse mushrooms in cool water and thickly slice, set aside.
3. Remove sausage from the casing and roughly chop.
4. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and once hot, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook sausage until it begins to brown, then add the sage and ¼ c mushrooms. Cook until sausage is browned (about 5 more minutes) and set aside to cool. Store in an airtight container in fridge until ready for use (can be made up to 3 days in advance).
5. Assembling and baking the galette: Once filling is prepped and cooled, place one ball of pastry dough between 2 layers of plastic wrap on a work surface. Pound with a rolling pin a couple of times to flatten, the roll the dough into a rough circle about 9 inches in diameter. You can either fill and use from here or score and cut an 8 inch circle (I used a cake pan as a guide) for a more even crust. If at any point the dough becomes sticky slide it onto a plate and refrigerate for a few minutes until butter is firm. Sprinkle with ½ c Gruyere, ½ c caramelized onion and ½ of the sausage mixture, leaving a 2 inch border. Fold the edges of the crust over, wrap in plastic wrap and return to the fridge to chill. Repeat with second ball of pastry dough, chilling for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Transfer dough to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, placing galettes 2 inches apart. Brush the crust with heavy cream and bake for 30-40 minutes, until crust is beginning to brown. Remove from the oven, crack an egg into the center of each galette and cook until whites are set, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Sprinkle with flake salt and cracked pepper, garnish with microgreens and serve.

3.3.3077

duck fat pastry dough

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Serves: 2 crusts

Ingredients

• 2 c all purpose flour
• ½ c white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces*
• 6 tablespoons cold, rendered duck fat (can be found at Marx Foods)
• ½ c cold water
• ¼ c apple cider vinegar
• Ice cubes

Instructions

1. Whisk together flours, sugar, and salt. Combine apple cider vinegar and water in a small bowl and add a couple of ice cubes. Add butter pieces to flour mixture, toss to coat with flour. Add duck fat. Using a pastry blender (preferably with blades), cut butter and duck fat into flour mixture until butter pieces are mostly pea-sized, a few larger pieces is fine. Add a ¼ c water/vinegar mixture and stir with a spatula, adding more by the tablespoon until dough comes together, with some dry bits left. Using your fingers, bring all the dough together, sprinkling with more water if needed. Divide the dough in half, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 2 hours, preferably overnight. Dough can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Notes

* if you aren't using duck fat, increase butter to ½ lb, or 2 sticks

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