In lieu of my New Years resolution announcement, I have concocted another healthy recipe that you will definitely enjoy: a butternut squash galette. For those of you that don’t know what a galette is (don’t be ashamed, I didn’t know what a galette was until a few weeks ago either!), it is somewhat similar to a pie however you don’t need a pie pan for it. All you needis a puff pastry recipe that you love and a baking sheet to put it on when you are done. For this galette, you fill the puff pastry dough with a deliciously spiced butternut squash/caramelized onions/fontina cheese mixture, fold the edges of the puff pastry over, and throw it in the oven. This galette is great to make when you need an appetizer to impress some friends at your house, or theirs! I did this with my wife a few times over the holidays and it was a hit!

Filling adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Pastry created by a wide conglomerate of recipes

Serves 6-8 guests

Ingredients:

For the puff pastry:

1 1/4 cups          All purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon    Salt
1 squeezed         Lemon (optional)
1 tbsp                  Granulated sugar
6 tbsp                 Unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (3/4 of a stick)
1/4 cup              All-vegetable shortening (4 Tbsp)
3-4 tbsp             Ice water

For the filling:

1 small-med        Butternut squash (around one pound)
2 tbsp                    Olive oil, or vegetable oil or coconut oil
1 to 2 tbsp            Butter
1                             Large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tsp                      Salt
Pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp                  Cayenne pepper, or more if you like spicy!
3/4 cup                 Fontina cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces), grated or cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tsp               Chopped fresh sage leaves, or dry sage if don’t have any fresh sage

Method:

Pastry:

• Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix or use a whisk.
• Add the butter and pulse 4 times (you can also use a butter knife to do this step, use the knife to cut and combine the butter into the mix).
• Squeeze the lemon in the mixture.
• Add shortening in tablespoon sized chunks, and pulse 4 more times (optional butter knife here as well). The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no bigger than peas. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture. Pulse a couple times. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, keep adding water (max 4-5 tablespoons total, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until the mixture just begins to clump together).
• Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean floured surface. Flatten into a 4 inch wide disk. Do not over-knead the dough at this step or else it will be wayyyy too crumbly. Dust the disks lightly with flour, wrap each in wax paper, and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 5 days before rolling out.

Butternut Squash Filling:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a 1/2-inch dice. Mix pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for cleanliness) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are soft and let cool.
• Now to caramelize the onions (while the squash is getting ready). Melt the butter in a pan and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne the now.
• Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a large bowl.
• Now assemble the galette. Flour the surface and roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a baking sheet with tin foil on it. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 ½-2 inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open so you can see your masterpiece.
• Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into some wedges and serve it up!