What could be more celebratory and cozy than a flaky, vegan butternut galette with apples, shallots, hearty herbs, Dijon, and heaps of black pepper. This totally plant-based main has all of the cold weather flavours that I like. Sweet and mellow squash, sharp mustard, woodsy thyme and rosemary, a bit of tartness from the apple and sumac, all with a toasty and tender chickpea flour and cornmeal crust.
This holiday-appropriate main is naturally gluten-free. I love making savoury pie/galette dough with chickpea flour. It’s easy to work with and it ups the protein/satiation factor too. I cut this one with a touch of cornmeal for a bit of extra interest flavour-wise.
Overall, this crust is so tender and flaky. No cardboard crusts for us! I also load it up with flavour from chopped herbs and lots of coarsely ground black pepper. The vegan butter is what really makes it though. I always recommend Miyoko’s because it performs so well and it tastes amazing.
I thought about making a vegan “ricotta” as the base of the filling, but since I am on a deep mustard kick, I simply went with a slick of Dijon. So simple and so good! Since we’re already making vegan galette dough, I thought I’d go a bit easier with the other components.
I like to pre-roast the butternut squash slices just as an extra insurance policy that they will be soft enough. I also want to avoid any excessive moisture, so pre-roasting takes care of that for us. Once you have all of your pretty slices of apple and shallot, you are more than set. I also did a little sprinkle of vegan cheese on mine, but this is optional.
If you’re into cozy butternut things, I’d recommend checking out this roasted vegan butternut squash soup with apples and pecans or my super creamy butternut orzo with Brussels sprouts. If you’re in the midst of planning your holiday get together, I have lots of ideas here for you.
I hope that you’ll give this vegan butternut galette a try! One of my favourite recipes that I’ve come up with recently. Have a great week!
Vegan Butternut Galette with Shallots, Apples & Black Pepper Crust
Ingredients
CHICKPEA AND CORNMEAL CRUST
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 1½ tablespoons hearty herbs such as thyme and rosemary, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegan butter, diced and VERY cold (I like to dice it and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes before I start)
- 3 tablespoons ice water, plus extra
VEGAN BUTTERNUT GALETTE FILLING
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and sliced thin (about 525 grams of sliced squash)
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 small shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced (remove skin if you prefer)
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk or creamer
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds or nigella seeds, or a mix
- ¼ cup crumbled vegan “feta” or “goat”-style cheese (optional)
Equipment
Notes
- Chickpea and cornmeal crust combination is inspired by this recipe from Moon and Spoon and Yum
- I prefer half moon-style slices of squash for this because the presentation is nicer and it slices a bit cleaner than cubed squash.
- My favourite vegan cheeses for garnishing here are by Canadian brands: VegNature and Nuts For Cheese.
- Always worth mentioning when I use vegan butter: Miyoko’s brand is my favourite.
- I like to get the apples and shallots super thin, so I use a mandolin slicer to cut them. Gets the job done very quickly as a bonus!
- If you’re avoiding corn, you can certainly just use another 1/4 cup of chickpea flour. Expect a more pronounced bean-like flavour and a slightly firmer crust.
- The butter needs to be super cold! Whenever I make pastry or biscuits, I chop up my vegan butter into 1-inch pieces and then place it in a bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.
Instructions
MAKE THE CHICKPEA AND CORNMEAL CRUST
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chickpea flour, cornmeal, herbs, salt, and pepper. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the vegan butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is crumbly and little bits of it are about the size of peas.
- With the food processor’s motor running, drizzle in the ice water (but not the actual ice!) through the feed tube. Once you’ve poured the water, stop the motor and then start hitting the pulse button until the dough comes together into a ball. If that’s not happening, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of ice water in at a time until it does ball up. Be careful to not overmix as you still want visible bits of vegan butter.
- Dump the crust dough out onto the counter and form it into a disc. Wrap it tightly in Beeswrap or plastic wrap and let it set up in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
MAKE THE FILLING & ASSEMBLE THE GALETTE
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Scatter the sliced squash out on a baking sheet and toss with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once coated, spread it out in a single layer and bake until just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool.
- Once sufficiently cool, in a large bowl, gently toss the cooked squash with the thinly sliced shallots and apples, the sumac, salt and pepper, and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Once the filling is evenly mixed, set aside.
- Retrieve the chickpea and cornmeal crust dough from the refrigerator. Lightly dust your counter and rolling pin with more chickpea flour and evenly roll it out in a circle shape that’s roughly 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter. The crust may split on the edges as you roll. This is fine! Just grab some overhang pieces, patch up the cracks, and roll over to seal them up.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place it right by your dough working area. Carefully and loosely roll the crust around your rolling pin to transfer it over to the baking sheet. Smooth out any rough edges if you like.
- Spoon the Dijon mustard directly onto the rolled out dough and spread it around evenly, leaving a 2-inch radius around the outside. Layer the butternut, apple & shallot filling on top, leaving a 2 inch radius around the outside as well. The filling should be an even thickness.
- Starting with one side, gently lift and press the crust up onto the filling to enclose it. It will look rustic! If you get some tears, just press the dough back together with your fingers.
- Brush off any excess flour from the folded up crust. Then, brush the edges of exposed crust dough with the non-dairy milk and sprinkle evenly with the sesame/nigella seeds.
- Bake the galette for 25-30 minutes, rotating your baking sheet at the 15 minute mark. Bake until the filing is very tender and the crust is deep golden brown on all sides.
- Sprinkle the crumbled vegan cheese on top of you wish. Cut the galette into slices and serve warm. Be gentle when cutting and transferring the slices. This crust is super flaky and tender!
This was the appetizer for our New Year’s Day game day. I could not have chosen a better starter for our afternoon vegan meal. We had butternut squash two-ways – main entree was the Baked Pearl Couscous & Butternut Squash with Basil Tahini. Your recipes bring so much joy and good food to our family dining experiences.
I made this a while ago and it was so tasty! I want to make it again for a bigger crowd, but wondering if I can double the recipe or whether I should just make 2? Cheers, S xx
Hi Sarah!
I would recommend making 2. If you double this into one mega galette, it might get a bit floppy/hard to serve in the center as the crust really is so tender.
-L
This galette has absolutely amazing flavor! The crust is so tender and the filling is just delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, and used my fingers and a fine sieve to get the sumac dust off the whole berries. It’s easy to make, since you can assemble the crust 24 hours ahead of time. I’m making it again this weekend for a party!
This is a delicious, savoury recipe, I made this last night and I think I’ll add it to my repertoire – whether it be for dinner with friends or part of a weekend meal. I didn’t have cornmeal, so I substituted fine ground spelt flour. The pastry came out delicious, and so flaky that it crumbled apart when serving. I am not sure if I could add something for more integrity, any suggestions? Thanks Laura!
Have made this several times, most recently for New Year’s Eve. Have made it with both vegan and regular butter and it’s always delicious! I love that it comes together easily, feels special, and that I feel like I’m getting some extra nutrition from the chick pea flour!
This looks incredible! Wondering if it can be made ahead of time (the day of a party) and reheated a short time later.
Hi Karen!
Apologies for the late reply. This galette can definitely be made earlier in the day and reheated right before serving.
-L
As usual-Laura, this is awesome
This is beautiful- so excited to try it! Can I replace the chickpea flour with all purpose or almond flour?
Hi Suzanne,
I haven’t tried either of these options personally, so can’t guarantee anything. I would be inclined to say that the all purpose flour would be the best bet but again, I haven’t made it that way. To be totally safe, I would recommend looking up a basic all purpose galette crust on Google and then just applying the same filling treatment that I used here.
-L
Hello! This looks so delicious. I’d like to make the night before and reheat the next day. Is that advisable, and any suggestions? Thank you so much!
Hi Sara,
If you assembled the night before, the apples will definitely brown before it comes time to bake. I would tightly layer them in between the butternut squash so that they aren’t exposed to air too much. Other than that, it should be fine! Just assemble and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
-L
First galette for me and while my crust was perhaps beyond rustic it still looked amazing. The taste? I was a bit concerned about the amount of rosemary and thyme but went with your recipe and SO glad I did. Everyone that tried this absolutely loved it. Will make it again and again.
Hey Laura! Im out of fresh herbs…I know its less ideal but do you think dried herbs would work?
Hi Paola!
Dried herbs are fine. Just use half the amount specified in the recipe! :)
-L
Thank you for this recipe! Can’t wait to try these!
Wow! I had all the ingredients so thought I’d try this. Apart from real butter and not vegan butter, I followed as written. Exceeded expectations and will now be in a regular rotation. This is so so good! I’m already trying to think of what else I could make in this crust! Mine wasn’t as pretty as yours but just wow! The taste is amazing.
I made this as my main for my first vegan thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! I forgot shallots at the store so I subbed in a layer of caramelized onions before topping with the squash and apple — will 100% be making again! As always, thanks so much for your beautiful recipes :)
I love the idea of adding caramelized onions to this recipe! Thanks Kaley, glad you enjoyed it :)
-L
I have to say.. this was a crowd pleaser! I was a little worried about how the mustard would play in with the apples and butternut but BOY was this delicious! I decided to swap the chickpea galette for a regular all purpose flour, but the flake and sweetness of this dish tied together so beautifully. Every slice got eaten and I’m the only vegan! They all loved it :) thanks as always for your inspiration!
This was delicious! I’m not a super fan of chickpea flour so I did 1/2 chickpea flour, 1/2 gf flour mix and 1/4 cornmeal and it turned out great! I also added some leeks since I needed to use them up. Yum!
This is delicious! In light of social distance needs, and a desire to share, I made 3 little galettes. The dough came together just as described and I let it rest in the fridge 24 hours. I ended up doing a chopped filling, as they were too small for large slices, but that was just fine too. I rolled out on parchment with a piece on top, too. Nothing sticky for me.
My questions: could these be frozen? Would you par cook? Then heat from frozen? I’d love to do more little ones and freeze them for an easy, quick, rewarding meal.
Also, I’m assuming the sumac was for an acid balance. Maybe mine has lost it’s punch, but I thought it could have used just a bit more. Could a little splash of Apple cider vinegar stand in?
Thanks for your amazing creative food. I’ve been cooking it for years now and am always happy.
Hi Paige,
I’m glad that you enjoyed this recipe. I think freezing these from a par-baked point might be best! That way the apple slices won’t go brown and the excess moisture won’t be as much of a factor. From there, my guess is that you could bake them from frozen, but you may have to do one of those aluminum foil “crust protecting” rings to save the dough from getting too browned ahead of the filling cooking all the way through. You could definitely use more sumac next time if you feel like yours is faded. A splash of any type of vinegar that you enjoy would also be good :)
-L
This was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Do you think if I un-vegan’d this (I.e. used dairy butter and regular feta it’d be as simple as a 1:1 swap out?
Hi Kelly,
Yep! Both of those would be a one for one swap.
-L
I have a honeynut squash and two acorn squashes waiting for their shining moment. Do you think those are swappable here? I’d love to use up what I have.
Hi Misty!
Honey nut squash would be so delicious in this recipe! I actually wanted to use honey nut myself, but they are getting harder to find in my area :)
-L
This looks delicious and is beautiful as always. I’m honored that you were inspired by one of my recipes, as *you* are a major inspiration! Thank you so much. xo
How did you get your butternut squash into such perfect, uniform crescent shapes? I can barely get the skin off without ruining it!
Hi Emily,
I have a really sharp Y-peeler that I purchased recently, so that was definitely helpful with getting the skin off. I buy myself a new, relatively inexpensive Y peeler every year because they do tend to go dull if you’re cooking a lot and using it often. I also always keep my knives extremely sharp! The better-maintained your knife is, the safer it is for handling squash and other very firm vegetables. It also makes the process of chopping much faster! For these particular shapes, once I had the squash peeled, I cut off the ends so that I could place it flat and upright on the cutting board. Then, I cut it in half lengthwise. From here, I removed the seeds. At this point, you have a large flat side that you can place directly on the cutting board. You can then cut these nice semi circle shapes from the “neck” portion of the squash.
-L
So easy and delicious, I made two tonight and my family devoured them
This looks lovely but I wonder: I have a pre-made grain-free flour mix that I’m trying to use up. Do you think this would work? I’ve never experimented with many flours before.
Hi Madeline,
Grain-free flour mixes tend to behave quite differently than most flours, so I don’t feel comfortable recommending a simple swap unfortunately. I would try googling “grain free galette dough” or something similar and see what you can come up with. It will also depend on what kinds of flours are included in your grain-free flour mixture! If it’s mostly almond flour, I would search for “almond flour pie/galette dough.” If it’s cassava flour, then try “cassava pie/galette dough.” You can always follow a recipe more well-suited to your particular flour mix and then prepare the same filling that we have here!
-L
This was fantastic! I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand (and had even roasted a squash yesterday just to have; what are the chances?!) and made it immediately. This will definitely have a place on my Thanksgiving table.
I had some difficulty with the crust being extra sticky. I love Miyoko’s butter but it melts so easily, so the tip about it being extra cold is important. My food processor doesn’t do a great job about incorporating things evenly, so that’s user error. Instead of rolling the dough out on the counter, I rolled it directly on the parchment, using extra chickpea flour to prevent sticking to the rolling pin. I also used the help of the parchment paper to fold over the edges of the dough, since it was so sticky.
It all still turned out so beautifully. I love the texture that the cornmeal added. Thank you for this recipe. You never fail us with delicious food!
Sarah,
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, and really appreciate your tip for rolling the dough directly onto the parchment paper. So smart! I have added an extra note on deep-chilling the butter in light of your comment here, so thank you for that!
-L
I just made this and STICK-EEE she is! I couldn’t get it up off the rolled surface. I would definitely add in 1/4 c regular or gf flour to give it some tooth?
Hi Laura, I’m SO excited to try this, how creative! CP flour can taste bitter and “beany” – would you recommend a longer rest time to reduce that flavour?
I tried versions that were rested for 1 hour and 24 hours and honestly both tasted the same to me. I know what you mean by the bean-y flavour. I have been using the Flourist brand of chickpea flour and do not find it as bitter as other brands. Overall, I find the chickpea flour not to be very dominant here because of the herbs, level of seasoning, the slight addition of cornmeal, the sheer amount of vegan butter, and also all of the flavours going on in the filling. Of course, if you have a sensitive palette, you could always seek out a galette dough made with milder flours and simply try it with this butternut filling!
-L
Flour weights would be really helpful.
I never comment on anything before I make it, but this is absolutely gorgeous!!! Can’t wait to make this!!