Tomato Galette with Homemade Basil Pesto

An easy summer rustic tart that makes the most of ripe and juicy seasonal tomatoes. This tomato galette has a beautifully crisp and flaky pastry. It’s topped with a layer of basil pesto which is then covered in colourful cherry tomatoes. Delicious served either warm from the oven or cold next day.

Galettes are now my favourite form of tart to bake, be they savoury or sweet. They’re just so much easier to make than a classic tart or pie. There’s no need for any pre-cooking before the tart is assembled and goes into the oven. No tin is required either, which means less faffing about and less washing up – hooray!

What’s a Galette Anyway?

The word galette is a French noun derived from galet, which means pebble. It’s usually used to describe a form of flat round dough. This could be a cake, biscuit, crèpe, bread or pastry. These days, the term mostly refers to a rustic tart, as in this tomato galette, which you free-form into a round rather than shape in a tin.

You may or may not fold the pastry up over the edges. In fact, I’ve sometimes made this particular galette as a completely open tart, as in the photo below.

As you can see, this tomato galette is easily adaptable. For this one, I didn’t use a rolling pin at all, just my hands. I also used a few less tomatoes but added some spring onions. The Italians refer to this type of free-form tart as crostata.

Tomato Galette with Basil Pesto

In the summer months, I often make this rustic French inspired tomato tart. As tarts go, it’s a pretty easy one to make. It can be on the table from start to finish in less than an hour. It’s a good one to make for friends as, despite its rustic appearance, it has a wonderful aroma, looks really appealing and is absolutely delicious. We tend to enjoy it with a large serving of zingy green salad.

Tomatoes and basil are a classic pairing and there’s a good reason for it. They seem to both compliment and bring out the flavours of the other at the same time. They are paired all over the Mediterranean, but particularly so in France and Italy it seems. One of Italy’s most famous salads features tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. Here’s my version of it, Caprese salad bowl for one.

I’ve used wholemeal spelt pastry in this recipe. It’s delicious and always produces a gorgeous flaky result. But if you’re in a real rush or just can’t be bothered, use shop-bought pastry. Likewise homemade pesto is generally much nicer than the commercial stuff and it’s really easy to make. But again, sometimes life just gets in the way, so you can easily substitute bought pesto for homemade if you need to.

You’ll probably find it hard to resist finishing this tomato galette immediately; it’s especially good warm from the oven. However, any leftovers will perk up the morrow’s lunch box no end, so if you can muster up some restraint, it’ll be worth it.

Tomato Galette: Step-By-Step

Wholemeal Spelt Pastry

This pastry recipe is my absolute favourite homemade pastry. It’s easy to make, rolls well and produces a beautiful flaky crust. The secret to its success, is wholemeal spelt flour and yoghurt. The yoghurt binds the dough together, but keeps it light and the spelt gives a nutty and slightly sweet flavour.

I’ve added some ground cayenne pepper to the pastry to give it a little additional oomph, but this is entirely optional.

Homemade Basil Pesto

You don’t need to use lots of expensive ingredients to make pesto. Parmesan-style cheese and pine nuts are delicious, but I find good old cheddar cheese and almonds can work really well too. These are the ingredients I’ve used in this particular homemade basil pesto recipe.

The amount of pesto given in this recipe is more than you’ll need for the tomato galette. But it will keep in the fridge for a few days and you can use it in any number of ways. It’s perfect for pasta, of course, but it’s also delicious in sandwiches, forked through rice or quinoa, mixed into cooked vegetables or simply spread on crackers.

All you need to do, is add the pesto ingredients into a blender and whizz it into a paste. I used my power blender for this pesto, but you can easily use a food processor instead.

Homegrown Tomatoes

We’ve managed to grow quite a few tomatoes this year and all of them outdoors. They’re the most delicious tomatoes I’ve had in a long time and we’ve saved them specifically for eating just as they are or in a salad. CT grew the cherry tomatoes, pictured below, at work. They’re also very good and are perfect for making this tomato galette.

Cherry tomatoes work particularly well in this type of tart. They’re small enough so that you can just cut them in half. And if you place them skin-side down, they’ll mostly contain their juice. On the other hand, you’d have to slice large tomatoes which would allow the juice to leek out all over the dough and the edges of the tin. This not only creates an awful mess, but it produces a wet and soggy dough.

For me, chilli and tomatoes are a match made in heaven. This means I invariably sprinkle a few chilli flakes over the top of this tomato galette. The same goes for this though as it does for the pastry, any chilli is entirely optional. Reduce or increase the amounts depending on how ‘hot’ you like your food.

More Galette Recipes You Might Like

• Double blackberry chocolate galette
• Gooseberry galette
• Green vegetable galette
• Rhubarb galette with orange flaky pastry
• Roasted beetroot galette (with puff pastry)
• Sweet pepper tart (with puff pastry)

More Pesto Recipes You Might Like

• Carrot top pistou with lemon (vegan)
• Fat hen & chickweed pesto
• Hedgerow pesto with hazelnuts
• Parsley & almond pesto
• Walnut basil pesto (vegan)
• Wild garlic pesto

Keep In Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this tomato galette, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate it. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more tart recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.

Choclette x

Tomato Galette. PIN IT.

Tomato Galette with Homemade Pesto – The Recipe

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5 from 12 votes

Tomato Galette with Homemade Pesto

This easy summer rustic tart has a beautifully crisp and flaky pastry topped with a layer of basil pesto which is then covered in cherry tomatoes.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: French

Keyword: easy, pastry, pesto, tarts, tomatoes, vegetarian

Servings: 8 slices

Calories: 385kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Equipment

• power blender

Ingredients

Pastry

• 250 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 150 g unsalted butter
• pinch sea salt
• 3 tbsp natural yoghurt
• ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper or chilli powder of choice (optional)

Basil, Almond & Cheddar Pesto

• 50 g basil
• 50 g almonds
• 50 g mature cheddar cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 50 ml extra virgin olive oil + a little for drizzling
• 35 cherry tomatoes halved (multi-coloured ones are fun)
• ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)

Instructions

Pastry

• Cut the cold butter into the flour, cayenne (if using) and salt with a knife, then either rub between finger tips or pulse in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
  250 g wholemeal spelt flour, 150 g unsalted butter, pinch sea salt, ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
• Stir in the yoghurt with a knife until the mixture comes together into a ball.
  3 tbsp natural yoghurt
• If the dough is too soft to roll immediately, cover and leave to rest in the fridge or a cool place for ½ hr. I generally have a cool kitchen, so I tend to roll mine out straight away.
• Roll out on a floured surface into a rough circle, about 4mm in thickness.
• Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Basil, Almond & Cheddar Pesto

• Blitz the basil, almonds, cheese, garlic and salt in a blender or food processor until roughly ground.
  50 g basil, 50 g almonds, 50 g mature cheddar cheese, 1 clove garlic, 1 pinch sea salt
• Add the olive oil and blitz again until you have a rough paste.
  50 ml extra virgin olive oil
• Spread a thin layer of pesto over the pastry leaving a border of about 1 cm.
• Cover the pesto with the tomato halves cut side up, but leaving a border of about 1 cm from the pesto edge. Drizzle a little olive oil over the tomatoes and scatter the chilli flakes on top if using.
  35 cherry tomatoes, ½ tsp chilli flakes
• Fold the 2 cm edges inward over the filling, tucking the pastry in as you go. You should have a large (ish) open centre with the tomatoes shining out..
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200℃ (400℉, Gas 6) for about 25 minutes when the tomatoes should be cooked and the pastry crisp and golden.

Notes

Serves 6 – 8 people depending on how hungry they are and what you serve with the tart.

You will make more pesto than you need for this recipe. Place the unused pesto in a jar, pour over a thin layer of olive oil and seal. Will keep in the fridge for a week or so. But once opened, eat within three days.

Excellent served with a zingy green salad.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 42.1g | Protein: 10.7g | Fat: 21.6g | Saturated Fat: 10.9g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 185mg | Potassium: 1325mg | Fiber: 9.5g | Sugar: 15.1g | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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Sharing

I’m sharing my tomato galette with Jo’s Kitchen Larder and Apply to Face Blog for #BakingCrumbs. I’m also sending it to Chipa by the Dozen for #CookBlogShare.