Lately I've been reading Smitten Kitchen, a wonderful food blog. I found her recipe for a cauliflower and caramelized onion tart and knew I had to make it. Her tart is adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit. My version is slightly different; I had to make it a wee bit healthier. Don't worry - it's still delicious. I like to make things that are moderately healthy but I'm not a health food fanatic. So I used fat-free Greek yogurt instead of the mascarpone and half and half instead of whipping cream.
Also I made mine a galette. I am not a baker so I don't make my own crusts. After trying many different brands, I've finally discovered that the frozen rolled pie crusts by Trader Joe's are excellent. (Thanks to my daughter and mother-in-law for baking many pies to help in this search.) The only flaw with the Trader Joe's crusts is that they don't unroll well if they aren't totally thawed. So mine cracked into about six different pieces when I unrolled it. I just smooshed the pieces back together in the pie pan. Which left me with a somewhat messy visible potion of the crust. Voila- a galette was born.
Isn't it beautiful? I was thrilled with how it turned out. And it was delicious. Even my seventeen year old son - who is a burgers and pizza kind of guy - ate a big slice with no complaints.
Look at all that golden cheesy deliciousness.
Roasted Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Galette
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 head cauliflower
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pinches sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 Trader Joe's frozen pie crust
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I recommend Trader Joe's)
2 large eggs
1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (but you can use black pepper)
Pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
I did not par bake the pie crust, partially because I am familiar with this brand of crust and felt it did not need it. So I will leave it up to you whether you feel you need to par bake the crust.
So my first step was to cut the cauliflower into one inch pieces. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Then toss the cauliflower in a bowl and add the three tablespoons of olive oil, two pinches of sea salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Toss thoroughly to coat the cauliflower. Spread it on a lightly greased baking pan. Cook for fifteen minutes, then turn the pieces. Cook for another fifteen minutes or until tender. Then leave out to cool slightly.
While the cauliflower is baking, peel and thinly slice the onion. I'll tell you my method for caramelizing onions. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a heavy bottomed pan. I prefer to use a cast iron skillet or one of my Le Creuset pans. Add the onions and cover the pan for 10-15 minutes. Then uncover and add a pinch of sugar to aid in the browning. Continue cooking and stirring until the onions are nicely browned. This can take 15-30 minutes.
While the onions are cooking mix the mustard, eggs, yogurt, half and half, and nutmeg together. Add the Gruyere and stir in.
Spread the pie crust in the pie pan. sprinkle in your onions, then the cauliflower. Pour cheese mixture over the vegetables. I like to make sure that no cauliflower is peaking out without sauce for fear it might dry out during baking. Take remaining crust and fold over the edge of the galette. Pinch edges together. Bake at 425 degrees until browned and set. I used a small countertop oven with convection and it took 30 minutes. Smitten Kitchen recommended 45 minutes. That may be the time without convection.
Time for a confession: I completely forgot the Dijon mustard! So we had a dab of mustard on the side with our galette. The flavor was excellent with the dish. Smitten Kitchen spread the Dijon mustard on the pie crust. I think next time I will mix it in with the cheese mixture to ensure that there is some mustard flavor in every bite.
I had some North Carolina apples from the farmer's market on hand. Their sweet and tart flavor combination made a great complement to the galette.
