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Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Galette

Picture this: A cheesy, flaky pie dough. Are you with me so far? This cheesy dough is scattered with onions caramelized with butter and bourbon – Then topped with gruyere cheese. All these goodies are in this Caramelized Onion & Gruyère Galette. A rustic, easy to make pie with so much flavor – Stopping at one slice will prove near impossible! 

Ingredients

For the pie crust

  • 1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour spoon then leveled
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons Granulated sugar
  • ½ cup 1 stick Unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 2 1/2 ounces Freshly grated Gruyere cheese
  • 3-4 tablespoons Ice water
  • 1 egg beaten (for brushing dough)

For the galette

  • 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  • 2 VERY large cut in halved and thinly sliced Spanish Onions
  • Salt to taste
  • 2-3 tablespoons Bourbon
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup Finely grated gruyere cheese
  • 2-3 tablespoons Finely grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Make the pie crust:

  • About an hour before you plan to make your pie crust, place the butter cubes in the freezer. The colder the butter, the better your chances of achieving a nice flaky crust.
  • Once your butter is sufficiently chilled – Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. I have one of those itty bitty ones for this purpose. Pulse about 5 times until flour, salt, and sugar are combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses total. Add the gruyere and pulse about 5-6 more times. You should be left with quite a few pea size pieces of butter. And that is cool.
  • Remove ice from your water, if any – And add 2 tablespoons of water to the food processor and pulse 2-3 times. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing with each addition. The mixture should just barely clump together at this point, yet have a crumbly look to it. Test by pinching some of the dough and if it comes together, then it’s ready to use. If not, keep adding one tablespoon of water at a time, giving it 2-3 pulses each time. I’ve made this crust many times and it’s never taken more than 4 tablespoons of water. Make sure you don’t add too much; otherwise your crust won’t be flaky.
  • Turn the crumbly dough over a lightly flour surface and gather it into a rough circle. Handle the dough as carefully as possible so as not to activate too much gluten which can toughen your pie crust. Your pie crust should be dotted with gorgeous pieces of butter and cheese.
  • Lightly sprinkle flour over surface of the dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill. If using the dough another day, place in the freezer. When ready to use, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. Dough keeps well in the freezer for about a month. While dough is chilling, caramelize the onions.
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Caramelize the onions:

  • Melt the butter in a very large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently until softened and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the onions, stirring every few minutes for about 45-50 minutes, scraping all the brown bits and incorporating them into the onions. This will help the onions achieve a rich caramel color. Lightly season with salt. Increase the heat to medium/high. Add bourbon and cook until the bourbon has evaporated, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow onions to cool completely.

Assemble and bake the galette:

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  • Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and set a large cookie sheet on your counter. Tape the corners of a rectangular sheet of parchment paper on your counter and lightly flour it.
  • Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and turn it over the lightly floured rectangle of parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle the top with flour and with a rolling pin, roll a circle that’s roughly 12-14 inches in diameter and about 1/8 of an inch thick, giving the dough a quarter turn as you roll. To make sure the dough doesn’t stick underneath, lift the dough every couple of turns and lightly sprinkle with flour underneath as needed. If your circle doesn’t turn out perfect, that is OK. We’re not going for perfection here. You can place the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or proceed with the next step.
  • Spoon all except for about 2-3 tablespoons of the caramelized onions in the center of the pie dough, and spread it with a small offset spatula or a spoon, leaving about a 2 inch border. Sprinkle the cheese over the onions. Top with remaining caramelized onions. Fold the border over the caramelized onion/cheese mixture, pleating the edges as best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The middle of the galette should remain open.
  • Remove tape from sides of parchment paper and carefully transfer the parchment with the prepared galette onto the cookie sheet. Brush the edges of the galette with beaten egg. Place cookie sheet in the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and the pie dough edges are a nice golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
  • Remove galette from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
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