There is a weird thing about being a food blogger. You compose pictures just so that none of the mess in your kitchen shows. You (mostly) never write about all the recipe testing and research. And you definitely don’t write about the failed attempts. And then there’s the stuff like, I made this and took pictures about 2 weeks ago, but am writing the post in Chicago. It all feels a bit weird, you know? Like I’m pretending, or I’m creating this fantasy world where everything is clean, and everything works perfectly the first time I try it. But I want you to know, that’s not true.
Another weird thing is knowing where to draw the line between keeping the writing here light and fun and ooh look tomatoes! Do I talk about my personal life? How far do I go? Last year when I was traveling, I certainly wrote about being homesick, and that got personal. But do you really want potentially heavy, personal stuff amidst pretty pictures of pastries?
The point of all this, I suppose, is that I’d like to be a bit more real. I want to not worry about there being a mess in the background of my pictures. And I’d like you to know some of those things about myself, and I’d like to feel safe writing those things in this place. So in that spirit: I’m getting married in three days! It’s big and exciting and for some reason scary and also very normal at the same time. What is really changing? Nothing. It feels like such a big step, but for now most things will stay the same, except that I’ll wear an extra ring on my finger and my taxes will change. We’ll still eat dinner too late, I’ll still listen to my favorite Pandora station when I bake, he’ll still take me out to dinner where the restaurant is a “surprise” but I’ll actually give him a list of three to choose from. And you’ll still be here, maybe, reading about all of it.
This meal was one of those ideas that was marinating in my head for a while. I’m trying to get better at making a few blog recipes at a time so I have content ready to publish, but it can feel overwhelming. He has been ever supportive, asking while we’re making dinner, “Wait, do you want to photograph this? Go grab your camera!” He waits while I set up the shot, he oohs and ahs over the pictures after I edit them, and he still proofreads almost every post. This galette was the epitome of summer to me, and the last recipe I photographed before we came to Chicago to get married in his parents’ back yard. I made it while he was at soccer, and waiting for him to come home and eat it, I realized how cool this all is, how cool he is: encouraging me to continue to write and cook and photograph, pushing me to try new recipes, offering me a safety net when things don’t go as planned. This tomato galette? It’s my love note to him.
1/2 cup water 1/2 cup fresh, whole milk ricotta In a glass, combine the water, apple cider vinegar, and a handful of ice cubes and set aside. In a food processor combine flour, salt, and sugar and pulse a few times. Add the chunks of butter and pulse until the larger pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of a pea. Add 2 Tbsp of the vinegar-water mixture, pulse to combine. Add more vinegar-water, 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough begins to come together. When you can pinch a clump of dough between your fingers and it stays together, it’s ready. Dump the dough out onto a clean surface and pat into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, tarragon, thyme, and garlic. Add a hefty pinch of salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper, and stir so that everything is well distributed. Set aside. Slice the tomatoes horizontally (hamburger style, not hot dog) into roughly 1/3-inch slices. Ooh and aah at the pretty colors, how juicy and perfect they are. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 400°F, with one rack on the bottom and one in the middle. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it into a roughly 14-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet. Gently spread the cheese mixture over the center of the dough, leaving about a two-inch border around all sides. Next, arrange the tomato slices on top of the cheese. You may need to cut some of your slices in half to fit in little corners, and to gently lay your tomatoes on top of each other. You should have a solid single layer, and a double layer in some places. Fold up the edges of the dough over the filling. Bake the galette for 10 minutes on the bottom rack, then move it to the middle rack for another 25-35 minutes, rotating halfway through. Allow to cool slightly before eating – you would want to burn your mouth with boiling hot tomato juices. Enjoy.Tomato and Ricotta Galette
Ingredients
2 Tbsp cup apple cider vinegar
ice
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 sticks (1/4 lb) unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1/4 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
3 large fresh tomatoes, preferably heirloom, each about the size of a baseball-softballInstructions