Mustard Greens and Apple Galette

Sounds a bit weird perhaps, a savory galette of mustard greens with apple? But the hint of sweet and tart apple is a very nice complement to the slightly bitter bite of mustard greens and comes together nicely with the nutty whole wheat pastry and tang of sharp cheddar cheese. My husband who is generally not a fan of bitter things took note of the bit of bitterness but found the galette to be delicious. He ate a quarter of the galette with gusto. I carried the apple theme to the accompanying simple salad of Red Iceberg and Three Heart Butterhead lettuces tossed with sliced apple, toasted sliced almonds, and a lemony honey-mustard vinaigrette.

1 recipe Whole Wheat Galette Dough

About 1 pound mustard greens
About 2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil or other oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 ounces Pink Beauty apple (half of a large apple), cut into 1/4-inch dice, no need to peel
About 1 tablespoon fermented sweet pepper paste
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated on coarse holes of a box grater
About a tablespoon of creme fraiche or heavy cream or an egg yolk thinned with a bit of water

Prepare the galette dough and refrigerate it while preparing the filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the mustard greens in batches, about 15 seconds per batch, allow to drain and cool in a colander. Gently squeeze some of the moisture out of the greens. Stack the greens so that the fat stems ends can be sliced about 1/4-inch thick and set aside, slice the leafy parts about 1/4 inch thick also. Don't be fussy, some fat stems will be a bit leafy and some leafy parts will be a bit stemmy.

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the diced apple and pepper paste and saute until the pepper paste is incorporated. Add the chopped mustard green stems and continue to saute a few minutes, then stir in the leafy parts and add salt to taste. Continue to saute until any excess moisture cooks off, turn the heat up again if necessary. You don't want the filling to be too wet or the pastry will become soggy but you don't want the filling too be dry either. Set the filling aside to cool as you roll the galette dough.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Cut a piece of parchment paper at least 12 inches wide.

Roll the galette dough out to about a 16-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the parchment paper, it may be larger than the paper but after folding the sides of the dough over the filling it should fit. 

Arrange the filling over the dough leaving about 2 inches uncovered all around. Season the filling with freshly ground black pepper and grated nutmeg. Add more salt if necessary. Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the filling. Fold the edges of the dough up over the filling but don't be fussy about arranging it. Brush the folded over portions of the dough with the creme fraiche. Slide the pastry on the parchment paper onto a large flat baking sheet.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, I use the convection fan so it speeds up the baking and makes for a nice brown crisp crust.

Transfer the baked galette to a cooling rack for a few minutes before slicing and serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 4 main course servings or 6 to 8 appetizer servings.