Soy Butter Sweet Potato Galette
Savory sweet potato galette that pairs traditional American holiday flavors with an Asian twist.
Soy Butter Sweet Potato Galette
Serves 8
While prepping for Thanksgiving, why not give sweet potatoes a different place on your table this year. Somewhere on the internet a few years ago I saw someone ask “why doesn’t anyone make savory sweet potato pies?” I thought about it for a long while and finally decided I’d give it a try.
This galette pairs a flaky pastry with three layers of rich flavor. At the base is a spread of mushrooms and caramelized onions. The mushrooms are topped with a sweet potato puree that has traditional American holiday flavors amplified by soy sauce. On top a, naturally sweet layer of kabocha squash mixed with doenjang to create a sweet and salty topping that when cooked, caramelizes and adds a hint of bitterness like the sugar on top of creme brulee.
Ingredients
40g (8 medium) dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed well
250ml (1.25 c) boiling water
Pie Crust
130g (1 c) AP flour
65g (0.50 c) whole wheat flour
3g (0.75 t) sugar
3g (0.75 t) kosher salt
1g (0.50 t) fresh ground black pepper
1g (0.25 t) paprika
126g (9 T) unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold until needed
30 – 60ml (3 – 6 T) cooled mushroom soaking liquid or water
Sweet potato
420g (1.5 c) pureed goguma (Korean sweet potato)
42g (3 T) butter, browned
0.50 t slightly heaped dried thyme, crushed
3 T soy sauce
0.25 t slightly heaped ground nutmeg
0.25 t slightly heaped ground black pepper
0.25 t kosher salt
Squash
260g (1 c) pureed kabocha squash or pumpkin
1 t doenjang
0.75 t gochugaru
1/8 t ground ginger
Pinch of salt
Onion Spread
1 T veg oil
300g (1 large) onion, sliced thinly with the grain
0.50 t kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 T mirin
Mushroom soaking liquid
Finishing
1 large egg, beaten well
20g (1/3 c) grana padana, parmesan or pecorino, finely grated
Recipe Know-how
1. In a medium heat-proof bowl, place the mushrooms and pour over the water.
Allow to soak covered for at least 1 hour or until the mushrooms are soft and the liquid is completely cool.
Pie dough
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, mixing well.
Add half of the butter and coat with the flour mixture.
Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until the flour looks like a coarse meal.
Add the remaining butter and toss in the flour mixture.
Press the butter into large flat pieces.
Using a fork toss the mixture with the liquid 1 T at a time until when squeezed, the mixture holds together.
Start with the lesser amount of water.
The mix may still seem dry but that is ok.
Pour onto a clean lightly floured work surface and fold over on itself 4 times to create layers and incorporate any remaining dry flour.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours.
Sweet Potato filling
3. Place the sweet potato puree into a medium mixing bowl.
4. In a small saute pan place the butter.
Over medium-high, heat the butter until it has browned.
Add the thyme and swirl off heat until aromatic.
Add the butter mixture to the sweet potato puree along with the remaining sweet potato ingredients and mix well.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Set aside to cool completely.
Squash
5. In a medium nonstick saute pan on high heat, add the pureed squash.
Using a heatproof rubber spatula, cook the squash 3 – 4 minutes or until the mixture is reduced to about 200g (about 1/3 its original volume) and begins to form a light film on the bottom of the pan.
Add remaining squash ingredients mixing well.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Set aside to cool completely.
Onion Spread
6. Squeeze out the dried mushrooms and reserve the liquid.
Finely chop the mushrooms and set aside.
7. In a medium saute pan, heat the oil on medium-high.
Add the onions and salt.
Cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until the onions are beginning to brown.
Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low if the onions begin to burn.
Add the garlic and cook 10 – 15 minutes longer or until the onions are very soft and nicely browned.
Increase the heat to medium-high.
Add the chopped mushrooms and the mirin.
Cool stirring frequently, until the liquid has completely evaporated.
Add 2 T of the reserved mushroom liquid stirring frequently until the liquid has completely evaporated.
Repeat this step until all of the liquid has been used.
Taste for seasoning adjusting as necessary.
Set aside to cool completely.
Finishing
8. Preheat oven to 190 C or 375 F.
9. On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out the pie dough to a 40cm (16 in) circle.
Using a pastry brush, brush the entire surface of the dough with egg wash.
Sprinkle 75% of the cheese on the entire surface of the rolled out dough.
Place a cookie sheet in the preheated oven and heat for at least 5 minutes or until needed.
Spread the onion mixture over the surface of the dough leaving a 5cm (2 in) border all around.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the onions.
Spread the sweet potato puree on top of the onions.
Spread the squash puree on top of the sweet potato puree.
Carefully, pull the edges of the crust up to encase the fillings.
Be sure the edges are pulled tightly on top of the fillings.
Brush the crust with the remaining egg wash.
Using an oven mitt, pull the preheated cookie sheet from the oven.
Carefully, slide the parchment with the galette onto the cookie sheet.
Be very careful as the cookie sheet is very hot.
I suggest holding the heated cookie sheet in your dominant hand and pulling the galette onto the cookie sheet with your non dominant hand.
This is an important step as the preheated pan gives the bottom of the dough a head start ensuring that the bottom will be fully cooked through.
Place in the lower 1/3 of the oven.
10. Bake 10 minutes at 190 C / 375 F.
Reduce the heat to 180 C / 350 F.
Bake 35 - 40 minutes longer or until the crust is golden brown and the squash is deeply browned.
Allow to cool 5 minutes before slicing.
11. Serve with a salad of bitter greens.
See the Recipe Tips section for salad ideas.