Heirloom Tomato Galette

Make this easy heirloom tomato galette with a buttery, flaky crust and cheesy filling to celebrate the very best of the summers fresh tomato bounty! Make a homemade dough or use store-bought for an even easier and quicker prep.

Heirloom tomatoes come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes. We’re in peak tomato season which is exactly the very best time to play with rainbow tomatoes! To find all sorts of heirloom tomato variations, skip the grocery store and head to your local farmers market (or get a CSA box delivered). Though making this tart with only one tomato color/variety works too!

Why this Heirloom Tomato Galette Recipe Works

• Salting the tomatoes before baking! Simply salting the tomatoes for 15min draws out their juices (and concentrates their flavor) so we don’t end up with a soggy crust!
• All the flavors! Sweet, tart and savory tomatoes are paired with buttery, flaky dough and a creamy cheese filling creating a deliciously rustic, free-form galette!
• Rainbow tomatoes! Up your presentation game with rainbow tomatoes and create a showstopping ombre tomato galette! (optional)

Rainbow Tomatoes

They are more than 15,000 known varieties of tomatoes (WHOA!). Heirloom tomatoes really DO come in every color of the rainbow! And they range in flavor for mild to sweet to tangy.
We aren’t referring to these fake rainbow tomatoes! Rather the kind you’ll find at your local farmers market. Like this!

In Cali, tomatoes begin to make an appearance at the farmers market in June and generally stay throughout September.
The heirloom tomato varieties below from top left are: Black Beauty (deep purple), Black Sea Man (deep red), Thorbutn Terra Cotta (Orange), Lemon Boy (yellow), Berekely Green Tye Dye (Green) and White Tomesol (white).

The rainbow cherry tomatoes topping this galette are: Roselle & Black Cherry, Matt Cherry, Sweet Pea Current Tomatoes, Sungold, Yellow Pear, Barrys Crazy, and Blue Cream Berries.

Beautiful and tasty heirloom varieties chosen for a rainbow of colors and range of flavors from mild to sweet to tangy. The mix is composed equally of Bonny Best (red), Brandywine Pink (pink), Golden Sunburst (yellow), Black Krim (purple), Evergreen (green) and Djena Lee's Golden Girl (orange).

If you’re not sure who’s growing tomatoes in your area, let me know where you’re located below, and we’ll happily do some heirloom tomato research for you!

Let’s celebrate colorful fruit and rainbow produce! Cause sweet, tart, and extremely juicy tomatoes are one of the best parts of summer!

How to Make this Galette

• Plan ahead if making homemade dough so it has time to chill. Dough can quickly and easily come together in the food processor. Otherwise, use store bought dough and just thaw it out.
• Salt tomatoes
• Make cheese filling
• Roll dough out. Briefly re-chill after rolling.
• Assemble galette – cheese layer followed by arranging the tomatoes in any which way you’d like
• Brush egg wash over dough and sprinkle with parmesan.
• Bake galette in the oven
• Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and top with fresh herbs, flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

*We vote for celebrating summer by arranging galette with rainbow tomatoes!

Please enjoy these process pics for easy cooking!

Serve this galette for brunch or snack or appetizer or a light meal paired with some greens or other seasonal produce. If you need an excuse to eat tomatoes and cheese for dinner – this galette is your answer!

Heirloom Tomato Galette Variations

There’s a couple of ways to play with variations.

1. The dough – can use homemade or store-bought pie dough or use puff pastry and turn this into a tomato tart. If making homemade dough, it’s possible to play around with your dough ingredients (swap cheddar for other cheese like parmesan or goat or incorporate cornmeal or other flours or spices).
2. The cheese filling. This recipe calls for mascarpone, but goat cheese, cream cheese, whipped feta and ricotta work as well (if using ricotta drain to eliminate as much excess moisture as possible because we don’t want a soggy crust).

Cooks Tips

• When possible, buy local and organic heirloom tomatoes. Find out who’s growing them locally in your area!
• For the flakiest most delicate crust possible, start with very cold butter.
• Plan ahead! Homemade dough must chill for at least 30 min (and up to 2 days) before rolling out. Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Re-chill the dough after rolling out, right before assembly.
• Salt the tomatoes to release their liquid and prevent a soggy crust.
• Tomato galette taste best served warm.
• Embrace galettes inner chill on don’t worry about perfection when assembling.

Stoked on summer tomatoes! We are too!
Check out our Tomato Confit, Tomato, Strawberry & Watermelon Gazpacho, Baked Feta with Tomatoes, Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes & Burrata, Tomato Puff Pastry Tart, and Chicken with Tomatoes!

Have ya tried any of these cooked fruit recipes? I’d love to hear about it and see it too! Please leave a comment below and take a pic and tag it on Instagram with #chefdanielagerson. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more colorfully delicious food and all sorts of awesome adventures!

Let’s make waves in the kitchen!

Notes: Rainbow tomato bounty is from SF ferry building farmers market, Santa Monica farmers market, and The Hungry Gardens.

Print Recipe

5 from 6 votes

Heirloom Tomato Galette

Make this easy heirloom tomato galette with a buttery, flaky crust and cheesy filling to celebrate the very best of the summers fresh rainbow tomato bounty!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Course: Appetizer, Brunch, Entree, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Californian, French-ish

Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

For the Galette Dough

• 1 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• black pepper
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 egg beaten
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), cold and cut into cubes

For the Heirloom Tomato Filling

• 1.5 pounds of heirloom tomatoes different colors, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces of mascarpone room temperature
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water
• ½ cup of parmesan
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Flaky sea salt
• Fresh herbs for garnish optional

Instructions

For the Dough

• To make the galette dough: combine the flour, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Give it a few quick pulses to blend the ingredients together. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cheese and drizzle the egg and pulse until a ball just begins to come together.
• Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

For the Heirloom Tomato Galette

• Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
• To prep the tomatoes: toss the slices with a teaspoon of kosher salt and spread them on a clean dish towel or parchment lined baking sheet and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Pay them dry with paper or dish towels.
• To make the mascarpone cheese filling: combine mascarpone, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and mix until it’s all combined and smooth.
• To roll out the dough: do it on a well-floured surface. Transfer dough to parchment paper lined baking sheet/tray (so that you are assembling the galette directly on what it will be baked on). Chill in freezer for 10 minutes.
• To assemble the galette: spread the mascarpone mixture on the dough, leaving a 1-2’ border. Pile the tomatoes on top of the mascarpone. Fold the edges of the galette dough over the tomatoes. Brush the sides of the galette with the egg wash and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper and flaky sea salt.
• Transfer galette to oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown, and tomatoes are starting to burst.
• Top with basil and serve warm.

Notes

• When possible, buy local and organic heirloom tomatoes. Find out who’s growing them locally in your area!
• For the flakiest most delicate crust possible, start with very cold butter.
• Plan ahead! Homemade dough must chill for at least 30 min (and up to 2 days) before rolling out. Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Re-chill the dough after rolling out, right before assembly.
• Salt the tomatoes to release their liquid and prevent a soggy crust.
• Tomato galette taste best served warm.
• Embrace galettes inner chill on don’t worry about perfection when assembling.

Did you make this recipe? Please share and tag @ChefDanielaGerson! I'd love to see how you're making colorful waves in the kitchen!