Potato, Pear and Feta Galette

I stumbled across my first galette recipe a few years ago.  It was a beautiful apple galette, so I convinced Adam to make it with me.  Sadly,  it wasn't very good.  It was all dry and there was way too much crust for how much filling there was.  I was majorly disappointed, and I left the galette behind me for a few years.  

Then a few months ago, I ran across a savory galette that I thought looked amazing and gorgeous. The ingredients sounded like something I would eat, and so I made it, modifying just a few things.  Once again, it was dry, the crust was disappointing (I have high standards for crust), and overall it just didn't taste that great.  

But I felt like it had good bones.  There was a good start there, but the entire recipe just didn't jive with me.  So I added a few things, took a few things out and made my own recipe.  This time was a success!  It has a lovely combination of fall flavors, and is spectacularly beautiful on a plate.  

Potato, Pear and Feta Galette:

Yields: 4 mini galettes

adapted from IWillNotEatOysters

Pastry Crust (from Annie's Eats): 

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 cup butter, chopped into 1/2 cubes

2 -3 Tbs Water

In a stand mixer or a medium sized bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar.  Add butter cubes and blend until the butter is broken down, and all that is left are small pea-sized butter chunks (if you don't have a stand mixer, use a fork or a pastry blender).  Add the 2 Tbs of the water to the butter, flour mixture and mix until it begins to clump.  If it doesn't form a dough after 30 seconds or so, add one more tablespoon of water.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  While the dough is refrigerating, make the filling. 

Filling: 

1 Tbs butter

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 onion, sliced and chopped in half

1 small leek, sliced (discard the leafy green top)

2 or 3 small red potatoes, thinly sliced

1/2 of a ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

In a large frying pan, melt the butter.  Add the mustard, salt and pepper, then add the onions and cook until they begin to soften.  Add the sliced leek and cook, stirring constantly.  When the leek is softened, remove leeks and onions from the pan and set aside.  

In the same frying pan (don't rinse it out after cooking the onions), lay down the thinly sliced potato so that they are not overlapping and each touching the bottom of the pan.  Let them cook for 3 minutes, then flip them and let them cook until they are softened and begin to brown.  When they have softened, remove them from the pan.  

Preheat your oven to 350°F. 

On a lightly flour surface, roll out the crust into rounds about 10" in diameter, with the width about 1/4".  In the center of each round of dough, lay down the potato, overlapping the edges a bit and leave about 1 1/2" of dough around the outside.  Top the potatoes with the onions and leeks, then a few pear slices, overlapped.  Fold in the dough around and over the filling and sprinkle feta over the exposed filling in the middle of the galette.  Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.  Place the galettes on a silicon baking sheet.  

Cook the galettes in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.  While the galettes are cooking, make the the balsamic reduction.  

Balsamic Reduction:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Pour the vinegar in a small saucepan and heat over medium.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, while stirring constantly. Cook for about 10 minutes until vinegar thickens.  

When the galettes are done, arrange them in the center of a plate or shallow bowl and drizzle reduction over the top.