I was disappointed this year when my partner talked me out of baking a sweet potato or pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. We were hosting my parents, who were bringing a southern pecan pie from Houston, and my partner had been waiting for an excuse to cook a favorite apple cake recipe and had already called dessert duty. This savory sweet potato galette recipe let me sneak an extra pie onto the Thanksgiving table without making too many desserts.

The tartness of the labne complements the nutty whole wheat crust and fresh gremolata, but I think if I make this again, I’ll need to build more flavor into the labne by folding in a teaspoon or two of kashmiri chili or za’atar.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Active Time

60 minutes

Total Time

240 minutes

Yield

8 slices

Difficulty

★★☆

Suitable for vegetarian diets.

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 110 grams all-purpose flour
  • 115 grams whole wheat flour
  • 15 grams sugar
  • 170 grams butter (cold)
  • 140 grams water (cold)
  • 4 grams salt

For the filling

  • 3 sweet potatos (about 12 ounces each)
  • 50 grams labne (For lining the galette. If you can't find labne, sour cream also works.)
  • 50 grams pecorino (or similar hard, salty cheese)
  • 50 grams pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon hot paprika
  • salt and pepper to tastes

For the gremolata

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic (minced)
  • 2 teaspoons flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Directions

Prepare the galette crust.

You can skip this section if using pre-made dough for the crust.

  1. Whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
    2. whisk together flours, sugar, and salt
  2. Cut butter into 1/2" cubes and toss with flour mixtures to separate the pieces.
  3. With your fingertips, pinch each cube flat. (Pinch flour into the butter to keep your fingers dry.)
    4. flour mixture with crushed butter cubes
  4. Add water and knead in bowl until dough comes together in a shaggy ball.
  5. Chill dough for 10 minutes in refrigerator.
  6. In between sheets of parchment paper or on a floured surface, roll dough out to a 10x15 inch rectangle.
  7. Fold the rectangle in crosswise quarters (Fold each 10-inch edge to the center of the rectangle, then fold the two halves on each other as if closing a book.)
  8. Fold dough once more, this time perpendicular to previous folds.
  9. Divide dough in half, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours. (Dough may be chilled overnight or frozen for future use.)
    10. divide dough in half, cover, and chill

Prepare the sweet potatoes.

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°
  2. Bake sweet potatoes for 35-45 minutes (until soft but still raw in the center)
  3. Let potatoes cool and remove peels.
    4. peeled potatoes
  4. Cut into 1/8" slices.

Assemble the galette.

  1. Roll out one half of the crust dough prepared in the first section in a 13" circle. (Galettes are meant to look rustic, so there is no need to be precise in shaping the rolled out pastry. Roll out the crust on parchment paper or a well-floured surface.)
  2. Spread a thin layer of labne on the pastry, leaving a 1/2 inch border of the crust uncoated.
  3. Arrange potato slices on the pastry in an overlapping spiral, leaving a 2 inch border. Season with salt and pepper.
    4. arrange potato slices in an overlapping spiral
  4. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over potato slices, then grate cheese on top.
    5. top with pumpkin seeds and cheese
  5. Fold the border of the crust up over the sweet potato, pleating the pastry as you go.
    6. fold border over filling, creating pleats
  6. Bake on parchment paper for 30-35 minutes (until pastry bottom is golden brown)

Make gremolata and garnish galette

  1. Combine the olive oil, salt, garlic, and parsley in a bowl while galette is baking.
  2. Brush mixture onto galette as soon as it comes out of the oven.
  3. Serve warm or at room temperature.