Beetroot and caramelised onion galette with vegan mozzarella

A few weeks ago I had a vision of a vegan galette complete with vegan mozzarella.  It was a disaster of a night.  The zucchini would not cook in the galette so I left it in for ages and ages.   Then I made a chocolate pudding where I forgot to add baking powder.  However, I loved the pastry and mozzarella.  We ate well but I had to try the galette again.  Next time I filled it with caramelised onion and beetroot and it was amazing.

Before I tell you about the successful galette, I thought I would tell the story of the day I made it.  I always loved good news, bad news stories as a child and thought I would have a bit of fun with the idea here.  It was the day of the Melbourne Cup holiday and we decided to have brunch and a movie Oddball about a dog who saves fairy penguins from foxes.  Here's how it went starting at the cafe:

Good news - Crumpets with berry butter and caramelised almonds on the specials menu look amazing.
Bad news - The pancakes Sylvia wanted are not available.
Good news - I can get coconut bacon in my brunch.
Bad news - They have forgotten our order and we are in a rush.
Good news - We can order muffins and they are delicious.
Bad news - They have forgotten our drinks and we have to gulp them down quickly.
Good news - We don't have to pay.
Bad news - I discover the movie starts at 12 not 12.15.
Good news - We arrive in time and love watching the movie.
Bad news - After the movie, we are still hungry after only eating a muffin for brunch.
Good news - We have a voucher for two short stacks for the price of one at the Pancake Parlour.
Bad news- I love short stacks (ie pancakes with maple syrup) but I really need savoury food.
Good news - E and I decided to share a cheese pancake and a short stack with chocolate sauce
Bad news - I am tired when I get home.
Great news - After a rest I make an excellent galette for dinner.

So, back to the galette.  First let me tell you how amazing the pastry is.  It comes from Joanne at Eats Well with Others who inspired the tomato galette.  She uses butter and plain Greek yoghurt.  A lot of butter.  I used vegan margarine and vegan yoghurt the first time.  The second time I used dairy yoghurt.  Both were great.

The pastry was really soft.  In fact I worried it was too soft (I made it in two batches in my blender attachment for my hand held blender). But it came together when kneaded into a very soft dough.  And once it had been in the fridge it was quite easy to roll out.

My inspiration for the filling came from discovering some precooked beetroot buried in the bottom of the fridge, remembering how well the caremlised onions worked in a goat cheese tart my mum recently made, and being impressed by the beetroot in a tart Shaheen recently made.  I also had more vegan mozzarella to use up.

While I felt that the first (tomato and zucchini) galette was cooked too long, I think I could have had the beetroot and caramelised onion in slightly longer.  It was slightly undercooked in the middle but perfectly cooked on the outside.  I also would have loved the mozzarella to crisp up a little more.  I made a dairy cheese galette for Sylvia which cooked much faster, probably as it was smaller.

I loved the mozzarella on top.  Much of the flavour comes from the beetroot and onions so the mozzarella is optional but I loved it so much that I wanted more.  I only had a small amount left.  When I made the tomato and zucchini galette I had a whole batch of mozzarella and spread some on the base before adding the vegies to make the filling more creamy.

Though the galette could have cooked slightly longer, I really really loved it.  I had worried that the beetroot colour would bleed over the pastry and cheese but it didn't.  The caramelised onions and beetroot were really lovely together.  In fact I had to go back for seconds and couldn't wait til have more for lunch the next day.

This galette is delicious warm or at room temperature. It would be great for a dinner party or a picnic.  I hope to experiment with some different vegetable fillings.  While I love beetroot, it is unforgiving if a piece falls on clothes or table cloths.  I quite fancy a pumpkin filling next.

I am sending this galette to Kimmy at Healthy Vegan Fridays #73, Lisa and Jen for the Pastry Challenge,  Ros and Caroline for Alphabakes (M for mozzarella), and Helen and Michelle for Extra Veg.

More vegan pastry dishes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Eccles cakes with leeks, spinach and blue cheese 
Haggis neeps and tatties pastie
Liz O'Brien's sausage rolls 
Samosa pie
Spaghetti pie
Stargazy pie

Beetroot and carmelised onion galette
An original recipe from Green Gourmet Giraffe with pastry from Eats Well with Others
Serves 4

Pastry:

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
225g butter (or margarine)*, chilled and cube
1/2 cup Greek yogurt*
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling:

250g cooked peeled beetroots, sliced
2 large onions, finely sliced
1-2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt and pepper mix
1/2 cup vegan mozzarella*

soy milk to glaze pastry

First make pastry: Mix flour and salt in a food processor.  Mix in butter until incorporated to make the mixture look like breadcrumbs.  Mix in yoghurt, water and vinegar until it comes together into a soft mass.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Use a little extra flour to briefly knead until you have a smooth ball.  Wrap in clingwrap and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 C and line a large oven tray with baking paper.

While the pastry chills, prepare the filling.  Fry the onions in oil for about 30 minutes over medium heat until soft and sweet.  Turn off heat and stir in balsamic vinegar, thyme and salt and pepper.

Roll out the pastry to about 1/2 cm thickness on the baking paper on the oven tray.  [I only uused 3/4 of the pastry - see NOTES - but I think it would be fine to use all of it if your tray is big enough.]  Use a little flour for the rolling pin.

Spread the fried onions onto the base leaved about 3-5cm around the edges.  Next arrange the sliced beetroot over the onion.  Drop blobs of vegan mozzarella over the beetroot.  Fold the edges of pastry over the filling, making tucks as you go so the pastry sits neatly.  It is to be rustic so it does not need to be perfect.  Brush pastry edges with soy milk.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the mozzarella is slightly brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Keeps in the fridge overnight.

NOTES: The mozzarella is optional or other cheeses could be used on top such as brie or cheddar.  But it is substantial enough without cheese.  If I had more mozzarella I would try using more.

I made the pastry vegan by using vegan margarine and vegan (coconut) yoghurt.  It worked really well this way.

I used about 3/4 of the pastry for the galette because I used some for a plainer pizza sauce and cheese galette for my daughter.  I think there is enough filling to make a larger galette with all the pastry or even two smaller ones.

As I found it easier to make two batches of pastry in the bowl attachment to my hand held processor I have noted the halved amounts of pastry for when I make this again.

Half serve of pastry:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
112g butter or margarine
2 tbsp Greek yogurt 
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp plus 1 tsp cup ice cold water

On the Stereo:
The Sound of the The Smiths