Whole Wheat Corn and Zucchini Galette

Aaaaand this is me being a hypocrite. Last week I boldly stated that the BEST thing you could do during zucchini season is make chocolate zucchini cake. I’m not taking that back, heavens no, but I’m just admitting that there are a couple great things you can do.

Since one can/should only eat so much zucchini cake in a span of 2 weeks, I wanted to make a main entrée with my overflow of zucchini. A recipe I’d been eyeing from Smitten Kitchen came to mind…a buttery galette recipe with zucchini and cheese.

Did I mention there’s butter? Butter and marscapone and parmesan and goat cheese and grilled corn. And, as a sort of joke, I decided to adapt the crust to be a whole wheat pastry. Now I’m not only a hypocrite but I’m also an oxymoron…whole wheat pastry dough?…with a stick of butter folded in?…and topped with three kinds of cheese? That’s just dumb.

Dumb and brilliant.

Whole Wheat Zucchini and Corn Galette

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
Whole Wheat Pastry Crust

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons cold water

Filling

• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 medium-large leek, sliced up through the leaves parting
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup marscapone cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Sea salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• Cornmeal (for the parchment)

Start by preparing the pastry dough, since that’s the time-suck of this recipe:

1. Use a food processor to pulse the whole wheat flour a few times. This will make it finer and more prepared for pastry use.
2. Add the salt and process a few times. Put the container in the fridge for a half hour.
3. Cut a stick of butter into small squares and chill until the flour/salt mixture has been in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Add the butter pieces to the flour and pulse 4-6 times, until there are only small beads of butter left.
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream, lemon juice, and water. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, using a wooden spoon to stir together. When it’s fully combined, use your hands to form a ball of dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

While the dough chills in the fridge, preheat the oven to 400 (with your pizza stone in there, if you have one) and then get the filling ready:

1. Spread the zucchini slices onto a paper towel, sprinkle with salt, and let them sit for a half hour. This will draw out the moisture and make the zucchini less spongey.
2. Slice the leeks and rinse well, then sauté in 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil for 3-5 minutes, until soft.
3. Boil the corn for 5 minutes, and then grill for a few minutes on each side until lightly charred. Slice the kernels off the cob.
4. In a small bowl, combine the marscapone, parmesan, teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.
5. In another bowl, whisk together 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper

Now comes the fun part…assembly!

1. Place the dough on a piece of parchment dusted with cornmeal. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. It will be a bit crumbly, so you may need to cut off any funky-shaped edges so it’s nicely circular.
2. Spread the cheese mixture onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border, then layer on the leeks, zucchini, corn, and goat cheese crumbles. Drizzle with the garlic olive oil, then fold the sides up over the filling.
3. Lightly whisk an egg, then brush it onto the sides of the dough. This will help the dough bake up nice and golden.
4. Transfer the galette (on parchment) onto a pizza stone or pizza pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the zucchini is just slightly wilted.
5. Top with fresh basil leaves.

Crunchy, buttery, salty, with just a touch of sweetness from the grilled corn and marscapone. I mean whoa.

Sure, it takes some planning, but it’s well worth it. It’s also pretty darn easy, if you have the time, so I recommend you do like I did and use a Sunday afternoon to make something great.

The crispy whole wheat crust filled with grilled sweet corn, mild zucchini, and creamy, sweet and salty cheese, is just absolute perfection.

I’m not going to say this is better than chocolate zucchini cake, because I’m not sure anything is, but I AM going to say I would like to have this crust every day, at every meal, and just fill it with different things. You know, with like fruit and vegetables and stuff. And butter and cheese. The crust is whole wheat, you know.

On a completely different note…yes, I can (and WILL) rationalize just about anything.