Heirloom Tomato and Quinoa Galette with a Farmers Market Salad

This weekend was the last official weekend for our farmers market. I just cannot believe how time flies. It is almost May, which means we are going to be left without one of the things we look forward to the most every Sunday morning. Luckily, some of the farmers have chosen a close by location to set up stands for a couple more weeks, but not long enough.

I asked one of the farmers what they do in the summer and she told me, “Go on vacation”. I smiled. So well deserved.

My first stop every Sunday, and definitely one of my favorites, is the heirloom tomato farm stand. Her tomatoes are like no other . Sweet, soft and buttery. Every Sunday we buy about five pounds of tomatoes to last us through the week. A little mid morning snack of sliced tomato with avocado, sea salt and olive oil. Nothing beats that.

Perhaps because my life has been a little chaotic lately, I have been craving simplicity all around and that includes food. It’s not a stretch for me as Basque cuisine is all about ingredients and quality and little about method and technique. All I crave are soups and salads and quinoa has really become a staple in my diet. Quinoa porridge with hemp milk in the morning, quinoa tabouleh, quinoa with watercress and pumpkin seed pesto…

Our friend P. who is originally from Peru was telling me stories about how they used to make her eat quinoa as a kid. Her parents are taking a trip home soon and she was telling me about all the different varieties they have. Even pink. “Even pink?”, I asked. “I must get my hands on some”.

So when we thought about making a quick galette for lunch, I thought of making a quinoa crust for added protein and earthy flavor. We accompanied the galette with a simple salad of watercress, watermelon radish, edible flowers, baby carrots and a lemon vinaigrette.

Quinoa Pate Brisee

85 grams quinoa flour
65 grams superfine brown rice flour
20 grams potato starch
3 grams salt
2 grams xanthan gum
115 grams butter or non-hydrogenated shortening, cold and diced
80 grams ice water

Place all the dry ingredients in the food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the cold and diced butter (or shortening) and pulse about 10 times until butter is cut into the flour into chunks (not too small). Add the water and pulse until comes together. It does not need to form a ball. Just combined.

Dump the dough onto a board and form it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it a bit. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Heirloom Tomato Galette

Quinoa pate brisee
2 lbs heirloom tomatoes
1 oz goat cheese
Olive oil
salt
Freshly ground pepper
Egg wash

Roll the pate brisee to about 1/16″-1/8″ thick, forming a circle. You can cut the edges to make a perfect circle or just leave it as for a rustic look.

Cut the tomatoes in slices that are about 1/4″ thick. Place the tomato slices on paper towels to drain some of the excess water. Pat the top also. Place the tomato slices on the rolled pate brisee. Fold the edges over the tomatoes.

Dab some goat cheese on top. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. brush some egg wash on the edges for a golden brown crust.

Bake in a preheated 450F on the lower half of the oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 400F and finish baking for another 15 minutes until crust golden brown. Make sure the bottom crust is cooked. You can even bake it on a pizza stone if you have one.

Drizzle with more olive oil and serve with a green salad.