This is the cover star of Two's Company Simple – on the table in 30-40 minutes, and with hardly any washing up.
Once you have the knack of this generous supper dish, you can flavour it up according to the season or your mood. For example, you can switch the ham for fried bacon, mushrooms and/or (bell) peppers. It is a good-tempered dish – you can make ahead if convenient, but let the filling cool so it doesn’t melt the pastry. I like to cut the galettes in half with a pizza wheel and serve with a simple salad alongside. Photograph by Clare Winfield, copyright Ryland Peters & Small.
INGREDIENTS
about 250 g fresh or frozen spinach leaves, cooked (or defrosted), chopped and squeezed dry to yield 150–175 g prepared spinach
100 g cooked ham, cut into 2-cm/¾-in. cubes or torn into bite-size pieces
125 g mozzarella ball, drained and shredded
1 garlic clove, crushed
freshly grated nutmeg
finely grated zest of ½ a lemon
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 egg
about 300 g ready-made puff pastry dough, either a ready-rolled sheet or a block
2 tbsp pine kernels
a splash of milk
METHOD
1. Put the first 6 ingredients plus 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan in a mixing bowl. Beat the egg lightly, set aside 2 teaspoons in a small bowl for the glaze, then add the rest to the mixing bowl and mix. Check the seasoning, though it doesn’t need much on account of the ham and cheese.
2. For the pastry, you need 2 circles of about 25 cm/inch in diameter, or equivalent ovals. Roll out as necessary and trim any corners. Spoon the filling into the centre of each circle, leaving a 3 cm/1¼ inch border round the edge. Now fold up the edges, crimping lightly as you go. You can refrigerate at this point for a couple of hours, if convenient.
3. When ready to bake, sprinkle the exposed filling with the remaining Parmesan and the pine kernels. Add a splash of milk to the reserved egg and brush the mixture over the pastry to glaze.
4. Bake at 180°C fan/200°C/400°F until puffed and golden (the galettes will sink once they are removed from the oven) – about 20 minutes. (There is no need to preheat your oven but you will save 5 minutes if you do.) Serve halved and accompanied with a salad.
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