This vegan tomato galette is an impressive summer dinner! Soft vegan cheese is spread across a naturally gluten-free chickpea flour and cornmeal crust, topped with garden-fresh marinated tomatoes, and baked until golden. The buttery crust bakes up crisp but tender, containing the flavorful filling with ease. I like to serve slices of this galette with a seasonal and fresh side, like my summer salad with arugula and spicy cashew dressing.
I love a savory galette served warm or at room temperature as leftovers! I’ve used this gluten-free crust before with my butternut galette, and had been dreaming about doing a version with my homegrown tomatoes. You just pulse the crust mixture up quickly in the food processor. As long as you remember to keep your vegan butter and added water ice cold, the dough is pretty easy to work with.
You’ll spread a store bought soft vegan cheese on the pastry–for flavor and as a little moisture barrier. Since I already have you making homemade pastry, I figured a cheese shortcut would be appreciated. For this vegan tomato galette, I like the Nuts For black garlic wedge. Treeline’s soft French style cheeses are another great option.
From a visual and flavor perspective, I like to mix up the tomatoes. I had traditional Beefsteak, Black Krim, and some halved Sungolds in this particular galette. Letting the tomatoes marinate with salt, garlic and thyme for 15 minutes or so is important. Of course this step allows the flavor to get in, but it also gets rid of excessive moisture. We don’t want a soggy bottom crust! Once the sliced tomatoes have sat in the marinade, you’ll drain and arrange them on the pastry.
The crust dough needs to rest at least one hour, but can be made several days in advance and held in the fridge. If you prep the crust on the weekend, this vegan tomato galette suddenly becomes weeknight dinner-appropriate! You just need to roll out the dough and prep the tomatoes.
Vegan Tomato Galette with GF Chickpea Crust
Ingredients
Chickpea Cornmeal Crust
- 1 cup (85 grams) chickpea flour
- ¼ cup (39 grams) cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) 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
Tomato Filling & Assembly
- 1 ½ lbs (680 grams) tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated with a Microplane (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced (plus extra)
- 3 ounces (85 grams) soft vegan cheese, at room temperature (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk
- flaky sea salt, optional
- sesame seeds, optional
Equipment
- Food Processor
Notes
- 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.
- If you’re using a garlic flavored soft vegan cheese, you can skip adding garlic to the marinated tomato mixture.
- For soft vegan cheese in this recipe, I love Nuts for Cheese’s black garlic wedge or the cheddar style wedge. Any of Treeline’s soft French cheeses would also be great.
Instructions
Make the crust
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chickpea flour, cornmeal, thyme, and salt. 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/starts to unify. If that’s not happening, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time until it does ball up. Be careful to not over-mix 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 plastic wrap and let it set up in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Prep the tomatoes
- In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Toss gently to combine, trying to maintain the integrity of the slices. Let this mixture sit for 15 minutes.
- Once the 15 minutes are up, drain the juice and arrange the tomato slices on paper towels to dry.
Assemble and bake the galette
- Retrieve the crust dough from the refrigerator. Dust your counter and rolling pin with more chickpea flour and evenly roll it out in a circle shape that’s roughly 11 inches 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.
- Spread the soft vegan cheese across the base of the rolled out crust, leaving a 2-inch radius around the outside. Arrange the sliced tomatoes over the spread out cheese.
- 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 thyme, flaky salt, and sesame seeds. Pop the galette (baking sheet and all) in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven.
- Retrieve the galette from the freezer and pop it straight into the oven on the lower rack. Bake the galette for 25-30 minutes, rotating your baking sheet at the 15 minute mark. Bake until the tomatoes are browning and kind of shriveling up on the edges, and the crust is deep golden brown on all sides.
- Let the galette cool slightly and set before slicing and enjoying.
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