Juicy tomatoes star in this free-form pie recipe. A layer of creamy cheese, a buttery herb crust, and ripe, bursting-with-flavor tomatoes! This is the easiest way to use pie crust and so delicious for warmer months.
About galettes
If you want to enjoy a homemade pie crust with little fuss involved, this is the type of recipe you need.
The fact that there's no lining of the pan makes it way easier than a traditional quiche for example.
A galette is a free-form pie (or tart). That means that the pie crust is rolled, the edges turned inwards leaving some filling exposed in the center, and the pie baked directly on a parchment paper or oven sheet (no pie pan needed).
Vintage Kitchen
Homemade pie crust
This is the first step for a fantastic galette.
Our homemade crust (a.k.a basic shortcrust pastry) is buttery, easy to make, and is a key component to this tomato tart. You can use store-bought of course, but we tend to think that making your own brings this recipe up several notches.
For this savory galette, we jazzed it up by adding some thyme and oregano, two herbs that go wonderfully with tomatoes.
Filling
We kept it simple and flavorful.
My first choice is cream cheese. It's unctuous, salty, and perfect. But the filling can be made with ricotta cheese and sour cream also. Or a combination of all of them.
Make sure it's very well seasoned and don't skim on the salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Adding more salt after baked is just not the same thing.
Assembling a galette
There is no right or wrong way to put together your tomato galette. It will look more or less rustic, but the truth is, a too-perfect pie kinda clashes with the whole idea of free-form, doesn't it?
Start with a large round of pie crust, add the cream cheese mixture (image 1) and then fill it with the tomatoes (image 2). What's left of dough is what you will lift inwards (images 3 & 4).
The great thing about free-form pies is that you can adjust as you go along. The edges will be larger or smaller (image below) depending on the amount of dough left. And it's fine whatever way it turns out! That's the beauty of it.
Baking
A rather high oven is the best way to bake a dry, flaky pie crust without it being soggy. Or at least as flaky as you can.
When the filling (which is humid) touches an unbaked pie crust, it always transfers some of the humidity. But, a high oven and a cold pie - as cold as you can - will make a difference.
Vintage Kitchen Tips
Top tips
- Crust - work with cold pie dough. If it gets warm while your rolling it, pop it into the fridge for a while and then resume assembly.
- Filling - use any soft cheese (cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, goat cheese) and season it well. I love grated parmesan because it has so much flavor, but asiago, or even fontina or gruyere work. Mix it before rolling the dough and have it in the refrigerator up until you need it so it's as cold as possible.
- Oven - a preheated oven is essential! You want the pie crust to bake dry and flaky.
- Storing - you can make the dough ahead and have it in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month (well-wrapped, always!). The baked galette can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days (maybe more). You can also freeze it but the tomatoes will have a different texture after it's defrosted. Warm it before eating.
Variations
- Herbs: add different herbs to the dough. Fresh or dried, they all work.
- Spices: jazz up a simple dough with some smoked paprika, or curry, or any other spice that works with tomatoes or whatever filling you're using.
- Crust: use a plain crust, it works fantastic also.
Related recipes you might like:
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Savory Tomato Galette Recipe
Juicy tomatoes star in this free-form pie recipe or Savory Tomato Galette. A layer of creamy cheese, a buttery herb crust, and ripe, bursting-with-flavor tomatoes! This is the easiest way to use pie crust and so delicious for warmer months.
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for Basic Shortcrust Pastry (or your favorite store-bought or homemade pie crust)
- 1 tablespoon, total, of thyme and oregano added to the pie crust (or you can add it to the cheese mixture, it's simpler and you still get the flavor)
For the filling:
- ¾ cup cream cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or Asiago or white Cheddar)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt (I don't use it because the grated cheese is salty, but you might want to)
- Cherry tomatoes and herbs, for serving
Instructions
For the pie crust:
- Make the shortcrust pastry according to the recipe in the link above, adding the tablespoon of chopped herbs with the flour.
- Wrap and leave in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before rolling, or up to 4-5 days.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough until you have a round of about 14-inches in diameter.
For the filling:
- Preheat the oven at 350°F/180°C
- In a small bowl mix cream cheese, grated cheese, olive oil, and black pepper. Add some extra salt if you feel you want to. This is very personal to your palate.
- Spoon this mixture in the center of the rolled pie dough and spread with the back of a spoon, making a circle of about 9 or 10 inches.
- Place tomatoes on top of the cheese in however pattern you want to, just don't mound it too high.
- Lift the edge of the dough and place it inward, covering some of the filling. Keep doing that with all the dough until you have a circular tart with an exposed center.
- If you feel the pie is too warm or starting to look shiny, you may want to pop it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, no more, before going into the oven. This aids it in not getting a soggy crust.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired, drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 40 minutes, or until it's golden and dry and the filling is bubbly and slightly burnt.
- Let cool slightly and eat warm.
- Or let cool completely and eat at room t°. Refrigerate leftovers, covered.
Notes
Crust - work with cold pie dough. If it gets warm while your rolling it, pop it into the fridge for a while and then resume assembly.
Herbs - you can add them to the homemade pie crust, or to the cheese filling.
Filling - use any soft cheese (cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, goat cheese) and season it well. I love grated parmesan because it has so much flavor, but asiago, or even fontina or gruyere work. Mix it before rolling the dough and have it in the refrigerator up until you need it so it's as cold as possible.
Oven - a preheated oven is essential! You want the pie crust to bake dry and flaky.
Storing - you can make the dough ahead and have it in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month (well-wrapped, always!). The baked galette can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days (maybe more). You can also freeze it but the tomatoes will have a different texture after it's defrosted. Warm it before eating.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Pies & Tarts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: International
Keywords: tomato galette
Veronika Sykorova says
I'm so happy that summer is finally coming and tomato season is here! I'm gonna try this in the next couple weeks! 🙂
Debbie says
I had a bunch of ripe tomatoes and made this wonderful galette. The crust was so flaky and full of flavor. A new summer fave for sure.
Analida Braeger says
This galette had the most incredible flavors! My whole family loved it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Juliana says
So easy and delicious, a great summer recipe
Tara says
Making and eating this galette was my favorite thing I did this week. The combination of the creamy filling and roasted tomatoes was to die for! Delicious!
Candice says
This galette is heavenly! It so much easier than making a pizza, with just the same amount of pay-off. It turned out great, and can't wait to make it again!
Anna says
I can't wait for our garden tomatoes to be ready so we can enjoy delicious, homemade galettes. It just tastes like summer! Your photos are so beautiful, just looking at them makes my mouth water!
Tatiana says
This galette made my dinner better yesterday! Super easy to make, and the filling is out of this world!
Bernice Hill says
Galettes are so much fun to make and eat. They look so impressive but really don't take any skill to make. Love your savoury tomato and cheese combination.
Phenie says
Thank you for this recipe! It's the second time I've tried something like this and I must say that it turned out waaaay better this time around. So much more buttery and yum!