This Mushroom and Butternut Squash Galette Was Made For Your Autumn Brunch

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, Lily Diamond of Kale & Caramel muses about the meaning of fall and its flavors, including this savory butternut squash and chanterelle galette.

All photos courtesy of Lily Diamond

By Lily Diamond, of Kale & Caramel

We love — no, crave — autumn because it comes to us as a cooling shroud over summertime. Heat, light, brightness, noise, and intensity fall back into the quieter arms of fall. We’re given a reprieve, a moment to catch our breath, a moment to remember. Before this year becomes the next, a few months to reflect.

In the kitchen, autumn’s herbs and deep, round flavors lend comfort and tenderness to the transition. Root vegetables, squashes, warm colors, sweetness, and spice. And rosemary. Let’s talk about rosemary.

In this savory galette, rosemary mingles with butter, onions, fennel, butternut squash, goat cheese, and chanterelle mushrooms. The flavors are perfect for mellow amber sunlight, gray afternoons, and crisp air. For savoring. For remembering.

Mushroom and Butternut Squash Galette

For the rosemary pastry crust:

1 ? cups flour
? teaspoon salt
? teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
1 stick butter
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

For the rosemary butternut squash:

2 cups sliced and peeled butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves
Sea salt to sprinkle

For the caramelized onion and fennel:

2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion
1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
? teaspoon salt

For the rosemary chanterelles:

5 to 6 medium to large fresh chanterelle or other mushrooms, sliced (about 1 ?+ cups)
2 teaspoons rosemary leaves

For the galette topping:

1/3 cup crumbled chèvre
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves

First make the crust: Preheat oven to 425oF. Take out a 9-inch pie pan for later use. Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and rosemary leaves. Grate the butter into the dry mixture using a cheese grater. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time, using hands to incorporate butter and flour into a ball of dough that is smooth and just sticks together. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge while you prep the filling.

Roast the butternut squash: Place peeled and sliced butternut squash in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet and toss with olive oil and rosemary leaves. Slightly crush the rosemary leaves against the squash. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Roast in 425o oven for 15 to 20 minutes, checking at 10 minutes for tenderness. The squash should be tender to fork when you remove, but doesn’t need to be browned (it’s going in for a second round with the galette).

Caramelize onion and fennel: Place onions, fennel, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt in a large frying pan. Sauté on medium heat until they are deep brown and have reduced significantly. Stir as they cook, until some of the onions may even become crisp, approximately 20 to 25 minutes depending on heat. Remove the fennel and onions from the pan, reserving the oil and juice.

Sauté the chanterelles: Place sliced mushrooms and rosemary in the same pan you used for the onion and fennel. Toss them in the remaining olive oil and juice and turn heat to low. Sauté gently, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Assemble the galette: Reduce oven to 400oF. When the dough has chilled at least 30 minutes, remove from the fridge and dust a piece of parchment paper with flour (the dough will stay on this parchment paper for baking, so it can be as big as the cookie sheet you’ll bake on). Begin to flatten the disk of dough by tapping its surface (really you’ll be smacking it, but that sounds a bit violent, doesn’t it?) in a circle with the rolling pin — flattening it out as you go. When it’s about ½-inch thick, start to roll it out into a larger circle. Ultimately it should be about ¼-inch thick. Place the parchment paper and dough on the baking sheet you’ll use in the oven.

Spread the onions and fennel in a circle, leaving a 2 to 3-inch perimeter of dough to fold over. Arrange the butternut squash in a concentric circle, from outside in, atop the onions and fennel. Top with sautéed chanterelles, crumbled chèvre, and an extra sprinkle of rosemary.

Fold the edges of the galette in and over, making sure to seal it up as you go — no cracks allowed! Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Enjoy autumnal flavor bliss.

More savory pies:

Hearty Pasta Pie Recipe From ‘Eat in My Kitchen’

Apple Crostata With Aged Gouda Recipe

Make Any Savory Galette Without a Recipe