Pancetta, Leek & Goat Cheese Galette
For Pastry:
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon – 1 tablespoon sugar (I did 1 tsp, but would up sugar for fruit tart)
3-4 tablespoons very cold water or non-fat milk
Filling:
5 ounces pancetta, cut into half-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
2 small onions, diced
1 small to medium leek, carefully washed to get rid of soil inside leaves, then sliced thinly
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary or thyme, or several pinches dried (use judgment here – the pancetta I use is locally made and very flavorful with herbs and seasoning so I don’t need to add much additional herbs.
4 ounces goat cheese crumbled, or 1-2 oz shredded Gruyère
Variations: asparagus, mushrooms and Gruyère; tomato, kalamata olive and goat cheese; onion, scrambled egg and ham; spinach, ricotta, pinenut and lemon zest.
Combine flour, butter, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse until mixture is a coarse meal. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time just until dough comes together into a ball. Flatten dough into a 5-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate (at least 1 hour).
To prepare the filling, cook pancetta in a skillet until most of fat is rendered, remove bacon from skillet and set aside. Depending on how much fat was rendered, and personal taste, either drain off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings and augment with olive oil, or cook onions and leeks in the pork fat. Over medium-low heat, sauté onion until deeply golden and caramelized, about 20 minutes, season with salt and pepper and herbs. Remove onions from skillet, and then sauté leeks, until soft.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, on top of a rimless baking sheet. Let sit at room temperature 10-15 minutes. Gently roll out to 11-inch diameter. Retaining a border of 1 ½ inches, sprinkle pastry with half of the goat cheese crumbles, then top with sautéed vegetables and bacon, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Fold dough edges. Bake until crust is golden, 25-30 minutes.
