Vegetarian - Sweet Potato, Goat's cheese and Chilli Galette

Sweet Potato, Goat's cheese and Chilli Galette
served with a simple watercress salad

Sweet Potato, Goat's cheese and Chilli Galette
out of the oven

Sweet Potato, Goat's cheese and Chilli Galette

These little galettes are delicious as a starter or even main. It is like an explosion of flavours. They are sweet from the potatoes, slightly salty from the goat's cheese and a hint of spiciness from the chilli. The addition of a good dollop of soured cream and the puff pastry just make these galettes so light and scrumptious. If you have the time, I would suggest making your own puff pastry. But unlike shortcrust pastry, this is quite a laborious process, so a shop bought version on this occasion is just as good, but make sure you get  a good quality all-butter pastry. This can be served warm or cold which makes this also perfect for party to picnic food.

Recipe (adapted from 'Plenty' by Yotam Ottolenghi): 

(Makes 4)

3 medium sweet potatoes, roughly weighing about 350g each

250g puff pastry, shop bought is absolutely fine

1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

100ml soured cream

100g hard goat's cheese

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 medium-hot chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed 

a handful chopped fresh parley

Sea salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C . Bake the sweet potatoes in their skins for 35-45 minutes. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut into thin slices, about 3mm thick.

Roll out the puff pastry to about 2mm thick on a lightly floured work surface (this prevent the pastry from sticking). Cut out out four 7 x 14cm rectangles and prick them all over with a fork. Line a small baking sheet with baking parchment and place the pastry rectangles on it, well spaced apart and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and lightly brushed with beaten egg. Spread a thin layer of soured cream onto the pastries, leaving a 5mm border all round. This allow the border to rise during the baking. Arrange the potato slices on the pastry, slightly overlapping, keeping clear of the border. Season with salt and pepper and crumble in the goat's cheese on top and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and chilli. Bake in the oven for 20-25minutes or until the pastry is cooked through. 

Whilst the galettes are cooking, stir together the olive oil, garlic, parley and a pinch of salt. As soon as the pastries come out of the oven, brush them with this mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.