Galette with Ricotta and Zucchini

Aren’t galettes just the cutest things ever?

That is probably the reason number one why I love making them so much.

I also adore their rustic and simple look – there’s something very romantic about it. When I make galettes I like to imagine I am going back in time and meet some of my ancestors who definitely must have made zillions of pastries like this.

In addition, galettes always amaze me by their wonderful contrasty taste and countless variations.

So far, for this site, I’ve already made two galette recipes – savory Cabbage Galettes and sweet Apple Galettes.

Both tasted heavenly.

Yum!

For some reason, up till now, I thought galettes are the perfect fall or winter treat. Well, was I surprised when I came across this wonderful recipe at Smitten Kitchen. Things clicked and from now on I am a huge ‘galette-as-a-perfect-summer-treat’ propagator.

Just imagine: chilled, tart ricotta filling infused with flavorful spices meets refreshing, slightly crunchy zucchini and that is all lovingly wrapped in irresistible, flaky, fragrant crust.

Mmmm.

Definitely worth trying.

This is the yummy stuff I’ve used.

1. To make your own galette, first whisk together the flour and salt in a larger bowl.
2. Sprinkle bits of the butter over the flour mixture.

3. Using a pastry blender (or just a simple fork), cut the butter in until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water…

5. …and add this to the flour/butter mixture.

6. Now use a rubber spatula to gather and combine the mixture into a ball-like shape.

7. Then bath your hands in flour up to your shoulders (kidding! palms are enough!) and form a nice ball out of the dough.

You don’t need to knead or work too much on this dough – it’s perfect when it just holds together.
8. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour.

9. Meanwhile, slice the zucchinis into 1/4 inch thick rounds.

10. Spread the rounds out over two layers of paper towels.
11. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes.

These are our lovely zucchini rounds after 30 minutes. See how the towels are all wet?

12. Blot the tops of the rounds dry with paper towels before using.

13. Now, press the garlic into a small bowl.
14. Add the olive oil and whisk together.

15. Here the lovely ingredients can’t wait to meet each other and coexist in a perfect harmony.

I am namely talking about the ricotta, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, olive/garlic mixture, sweet paprika powder, black pepper and salt.

In other words, mix the filling ingredients just until combined.

Set aside some olive/garlic mixture to drizzle on top of the galette.

16. To assemble the galette, remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a well floured surface.
17. Roll the dough out into a 14-inch (35 cm) round.

18. Transfer to an ungreased, round 6 x 2 inches (15 x 5 cm) baking dish.

19. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the bottom of the galette dough,…

20. …leaving a 2-inch border.

I’ve used a little more ricotta than the recipe called for because, hm…, because I don’t even know why. I just probably couldn’t stop adding it in. Yeah, the control thing – I should work on that. But I’ll definitely follow the given ricotta measurement next time – now I see that the proportions are perfect.

21. Shingle the zucchini attractively on top of the ricotta in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge.
22. Drizzle the remaining garlic and olive oil mixture evenly over the zucchini.
23. Fold the border over the filling, pleating the edge to make it fit (the center will be open).
24. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze.

25. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 1 hour (or until the zucchini is slightly wilted and the galette is golden brown).

Although you can serve this wonderful galette at any temperature, I loved it best refrigerated.

Enjoy, dear friends!

Three Ways to Increase Contrast in Photography

Have you ever considered increasing contrast in your photos?

If I should speak for myself, I clearly remember the days when I was looking at the pictures I’d made and thought:‘Why, oh why does there have to be that ugly gray cast over my photos? I don’t want it to be there. I want my pictures to be vibrant and crisp!’

To solve this problem I first decided to pray and cry and scream and kick around and then cry some more (because that is the usual way how I solve my problems)…and then I remembered that times have changed and all that one needs to do to solve all the problems is to sit on her butt and start googling.

So I googled.

And did I find gorgeous things!

Basically, I came across three ways to increase contrast.

They can be used separately or all together.

Just have a look:

This is a SOOC (straight out of camera) picture that I made a couple of months ago on one of our trips.

And this is what I got after I opened my Photoshop and played for a while.

Note: I am using Photoshop Elements 8.

1. This is the first way to achieve better contrast in your pictures.

The change is rather subtle here – the final picture is a bit more defined and also slightly more vibrant.

To use the first method go to ENHANCE (situated in the tool menu on top of your screen) -> ADJUST LIGHTING -> BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST.

A small window will pop up.

In that window, drag the Contrast slider to the right just until you like the picture.

Try to be gentle since this method is rather strong.

And here we are with a tad better contrast.

But we want more, right?

2. This is the second method I’ve found.

In this case, go to ENHANCE -> ADJUST COLOR -> ADJUST COLOR CURVES.

A big window will pop up.

In this window you’ll see four sliders. Drag them so that you achieve a slight S-shaped curve on the graph.

This method is very effective, very gentle to the picture and it also pumps up your colors a little.

You just have to love it.

But there’s something that you’ll love even more…you’ll actually love it more than anything in this world…

3. And this is it – raising contrast with UNSHARP MASK.

Yes, I hear you – you use unsharp mask to sharpen your images.

And that is precisely what its primary purpose is.

But if you happen to adjust it ‘crazily’ – you’ll witness a miracle.

Just try it for yourself…go to ENHANCE -> UNSHARP MASK.

Now you’ll see a small window with three sliders – Amount, Radius and Threshold.

We are going to work with first two only.

With the first slider (Amount) go somewhere from 10 to 25 and with the second one (Radius) go almost to the end of the line.

And get amazed!

A am not lying when I say that I nearly shed a tear when I saw the result of this method for the first time.

It’s breathtaking.

The image is so much crisper, vibrant and more real.

I just love it!

Okay, being gentle with photo processing is one thing.

And I highly recommend that.

But being so greedy that you can’t help yourself from applying all the contrast increasing ways you know to one picture is something totally different.

I think that it’s done by people who want their images to be obnoxiously soaked up with everything there is to get.

I don’t know people like that.

All I know is that the picture above has all three methods applied to it.

(Oh, and in the last picture, that ‘someone’ also freed the horses’ heads from the shadow by going to ENHANCE -> ADJUST LIGHTING -> SHADOWS/HIGHLIGHTS.)

Send this to a friend