This tomato goat cheese galette with spinach is seriously the best lunch or dinner! A perfect way to use ripe summer tomatoes this savory galette is made with sauteed spinach, fresh garlic, creamy goat cheese, and shredded white cheddar cheese. This impressive dish is flavorful and super easy to make!
As you guys know, tomato galettes are my favorite thing to make. They’re kinda like a fancy pizza but it’s sooo much easier to make because we can skip the whole yeast/rising step. Instead, a homemade flaky and buttery galette pastry dough is covered in goat cheese, tomatoes, spinach, and flaky salt and then baked until golden brown perfection!
The creamy goat cheese and sauteed spinach are my favorite things about this tomato galette recipe. Sauteed spinach with garlic is sooo good on its own but paired with the juicy tomatoes and creamy goat cheese really takes this summer tomato galette to the next level!
Served for lunch or as a light dinner with a salad this tomato goat cheese tart will always be a hit!
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What is a galette?
Galettes are a French freeform tart and they can be made with either a sweet or savory filling. Instead of using a pie pan galettes are cooked on a sheet pan or in my case a pizza stone! It’s naturally rustic looking so you don’t have to worry about making it look perfect.
There are many different kinds of fillings that you can use inside the pastry dough to create a delicious meal or treat for your family!
When filled with savory ingredients, galettes can taste like a pizza. It is also common to fill it with cheese, deli meat, or a fried egg! My Tomato Galette recipe is always a hit with my family!
When made with a sweet filling and served with a scoop of ice cream, fruit galettes are similar to pie but by using a freeform pie crust it’s much easier to create than a traditional fruit pie.
Recipe Ingredients
Fresh tomatoes – thinly sliced vine tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, or whole or slice cherry tomatoes.
Goat cheese – the star of the show! It’s tangy and adds a delicious creaminess to this savory tomato tart. For this recipe, I used plain goat cheese.
Fresh spinach – Sauteed with butter and garlic and is so delicious paired with the juicy tomatoes and creamy goat cheese.
Minced garlic – I love the combination of sauteed spinach and fresh garlic. It adds so much savory flavor to this recipe.
Shredded cheddar cheese – in addition to the goat cheese I also used white cheddar cheese. You can use a medium or sharp white cheddar, regular yellow cheddar, or low moisture mozzarella cheese. I wouldn’t recommend fresh mozzarella cheese because it has a high water content which can cause the crust to be soggy and it tends to not melt as well either.
Galette pastry dough – all-purpose flour, dried thyme, salt, and cold butter cut into cubes.
Toppings – I like to add extra dried thyme, flaky salt (gray Celtic sea salt, kosher salt, or pink Himalayan), freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive over the galette before baking to add extra delicious flavor!
How to Make Tomato Galette with Goat Cheese and Spinach
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step one. In a large mixing bowl mix together the all-purpose flour, salt, and dried thyme. Then add in the cubed butter. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the flour until it feels like wet sand. The butter chunks should be very small.
Step two. Slowly add in the cold water using a fork until large clumps form. Bring the dough together into a ball. It should be firm but still soft and malleable. Add a little bit more water if needed, a tablespoon at a time. Fold the dough over itself a couple of times to create layers.
Step three. Press the dough into a disk shape then wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes – 1 hour or until the dough is completely chilled and firm.
Step four. Preheat the oven with your pizza stone in a 400-degree oven.
Step five. Rinse and chop your spinach. Add the spinach and minced garlic to a large skillet with butter. Cook until most of the water has evaporated and the spinach has just started to brown about 5 minutes. Stir in salt then remove from the heat.
Step six. Roll out your galette dough until it’s roughly a 13-inch circle ¼ inch thick. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Transfer the tart crust to a large sheet of parchment paper. This will make transporting the galette to and from the oven much easier.
Step seven. Next, leave a 2-inch border, and top with shredded cheddar cheese, cooked spinach, crumbled goat cheese, and sliced tomatoes. Finish with a sprinkle of dried thyme and flaky salt.
Step eight. Fold the edges of the crust over the tomatoes to create the rustic tomato galette shape.
Step nine. Transfer the galette to the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet to bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Step ten. Wait at least 10 minutes before slicing, serve with a garden salad, and enjoy!
Variations
- Add herbs to the galette pastry dough. You can add fresh or dried herbs to the flour mixture of the crust to give an even better and savory flavor. I always put organic dried thyme in my galette dough.
- You can use a variety of summer ripe tomatoes. Heirloom, beef steak, cherry or grape tomatoes, vine tomatoes, or Roma tomatoes.
- You can leave the spinach out if you prefer.
- Add a few slices of red onions or caramelized onions.
- Sauteeing a few button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms with the spinach would be so good.
Recommended Tools
Pastry cutter, to combine the butter with the flour
Rolling pin(similar)
Parchment paper, for easy cleanup and to transport it to and from the oven
Pizza stone(similar) or baking sheet
Pro Tips
- Make sure to incorporate the butter into the flour until it reaches the “wet sand stage”. At this point, the flour will look and feel buttery, and it will hold together when pressed in your hand.
- Use enough water so that the crust sticks together without crumbling but not too much that the dough becomes sticky, otherwise your galette crust can be tough and chewy instead of tender and flaky like we want.
- Make sure you salt your tomatoes before baking. This will give the tomatoes more flavor. I like to use this gray Celtic salt because it has a really nice flavor, but kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt works too!
- Spinach has a lot of water in it, so it’s important to cook it until all the water has evaporated so your galette doesn’t turn out soggy.
- Make sure you are using cold butter for the best results. Enough though the butter will naturally start to melt as you are making the pastry dough, it’s best to start with it as cold as possible to ensure the best and flakiest crust!
How To Store/ Make Ahead
Storing. Cut the galette into slices then store wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or several weeks in the freezer inside a freezer bag.
Make ahead. You can make the galette pastry dough up to 2 days in advance. Keep in the refrigerator tightly wrapped with plastic wrap.
Reheat at 400 degrees with a little ghee or vegetable oil on the bottom until heated through, 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions —
Sprinkling the shredded cheese on the bottom of the pastry dough as the first layer will create a barrier between the crust and the juicy tomatoes so it doesn’t end up soggy.
Yes, these two doughs are pretty much the same. Although pie dough might include sugar, this savory galette dough doesn’t.
No, these are different types of dough. Galette dough is more similar to a pie crust, and puff pastry dough to croissant dough. Both of these doughs contain a higher percentage of butter and it’s made by laminating the dough or folding it with alternating layers of butter and pastry dough to give puff pastry and croissant dough that puffy look and texture.
You can make this tomato galette using puff pastry dough but I prefer to make the dough myself!
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Tomato Spinach and Goat Cheese Galette
Ingredients
Galette Pie Crust
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup unsalted butter cubed or 1 stick
- ¼ - ½ cup water very cold
Toppings
- 4 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 4 - 5 cups fresh spinach chopped (1 bundle)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white cheddar cheese shredded
- 3- 4 ounces plain goat cheese
- 2 - 3 large tomatoes thinly sliced
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Pinch flaky salt gray Celtic sea salt, kosher salt, or pink Himalayan salt
Instructions
How To Make The Crust:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, salt, and dried thyme. Add in the cubed butter. With your hands, a fork, or pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the flour, until the flour feels like buttery sand and the butter chunks are very small.
- Mix in the water a little at a time with a fork, to create a firm but still soft ball of dough. If the dough doesn’t come together, add a little bit more water, a tablespoon at a time. It should be firm but still soft and malleable. Fold the dough over itself a few times, then press it into a disk shape and wrap it with plastic wrap.
- Put the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until it is very cold and firm.
How To Make The Galette:
- To a large skillet on medium heat add butter, chopped spinach, and minced garlic. Cook the spinach until all the water has evaporated and the spinach is just starting to brown about 5 minutes. Add in the salt and then remove from the heat. Set aside.
- Preheat your pizza stone in a 400-degree oven.
- Roll out your crust until it is about ¼ inch thick, roughly 13 inches. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You want to roll out your crust thin but without any holes. Transfer the crust to parchment paper - this will help you to transfer your galette to the oven easier.
- Next, sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the crust leaving a 2-inch border. Top with sauteed spinach and crumbled goat cheese. Lastly, add the sliced tomatoes, then sprinkle over top the dried thyme and flaky salt.
- Fold the edges of the crust over the tomatoes to create a rustic shape. Then bake the galette on the pizza stone for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
- Allow the tomato goat cheese galette to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is automatically generated and should be only used as a rough estimate. This recipe card may contain affiliate links.
