Oh, boy! Where has the time gone… It feels like summer has just arrived and at the same time we’re running head on into fall. But before we warm ourselves inside out with hot stews and hearty, fall salads, let’s soak up summer once more and make the most of those super ripe tomatoes and endlessly growing zucchinis. Fun fact: did you know that zucchini comes from zucchina, which means tiny squash in Italian? And that courgette, which is often used synonymously for zucchini, has a French origin? Anyways, it’s basically the same plant: a longish, green or yellow summer squash. And a super versatile summer vegetable!

When it comes to tomatoes, there’s nothing better than self-grown, organic ones, don’t you think? And if you’ve ever tasted a sun-riped tomato directly from the vine, it will be hard to go back to store-bought ones. So, why is it that self-grown tomatoes taste sweet and pleasing, while store-bought ones usually taste, well, bland and boring? It is actually due to the breeding of commercial plants and the industry’s efforts to produce uniform luscious red tomatoes, because they believe that’s what the consumer wants? But why change the taste for the worst, you ask? Well, when tomato breeders decided to favor the uniform ripening of the tomatoes and deliberately cross-bred this feature into almost all modern kinds it actually resulted in a blocking or inactivating of another gene responsible for the amount of sugar that is produced inside the tomato and thus results in a less tasty tomato. Crazy world, if you ask me!

Anyways. To me, tomatoes are the perfect summer vegetable and I can’t get enough of those endless varieties that you can find at the farmer’s market. Colorful heirloom tomatoes, meaty oxheart tomatoes, dark red or even black varieties, anything goes! They are super easy to grow too. You don’t even need a big garden to do so. A pot on your balcony will do to bring up a medium sized plant. Try cherry tomatoes if you’re new to gardening. They are pretty resistent and will get ripe sooner. Also, tomatoes are almost 95% water and full of nutritional value. They are relatively high in fiber and a good source for Vitamins and Minerals, as well as antioxidants. The perfect summer veggie to make sure you’re well hydrated on those hot days.

And now, finally, to today’s recipe: a vegan Summer Zucchini Tomato Galette. I once read that the galette is the ‘lazy person’s pie’ and it made me fall in love with this crazy little baked delicacy even more! I love simple and easy recipes that bring out the flavor of each ingredient while giving you more time for other things. (Like maybe, baking a cake – haha). The dough for this galette is really basic: fat, flour, water and a splash of apple cider vinegar – so no fancy ingredients here, and it can be thrown together in the matter of a few minutes. You can even make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Everything else you need to make this fresh summer galette is a high-quality pesto or, even better, a homemade one, like this one, ripe summer tomatoes and a couple of zucchinis and voilá – you’ve got yourself a lovely light lunch or dinner or a beautiful starter for your next dinner party!

By the way: Do you have a favorite summer vegetable? If so, let me know in the comments or on IG @themellowkitchn – I’d love to hear from you!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Anna

Summer Tomato Zucchini Galette

Created by Anna on 16th August 2018

Sunriped tomatoes, fresh zucchini, a high-quality or homemade basil pesto, and a super-easy galette crust! That’s all you need to make this light summer lunch or starter for you next dinner party. Serves 4-6 people as a starter or 2 as a main dish with a fresh side salad. Facebook0TwitterPinterest0email

Prep Time: 15m
Cook Time: 30m
Total Time: 1h 45m

Serves: 4
Yield: 2 galettes
Category: all recipes, lunch, Main dish, Plantbased, Starter/Appetizer, Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients

Galette Crust

1/3 cup cold vegan butter
1 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons ice water
pinch of salt

Filling

2 1/2 cups ripe summer tomatoes
3 cups zucchini
4 tablespoons high-quality pesto
sea salt & fresh pepper
extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Roughly cut the butter into pieces and place in your food processor together with the flour and salt. Pulse a couple of times to break up the butter and distribute evenly.
Move flour/butter mixture into a medium bowl. Combine 1 tbsp applecider vinegar with 3 tbsps ice-cold water and add to the flour/butter mixture. Using a spatula or your hands quickly knead together into a ball of dough. Making sure not to overknead it! Pea-sized pieces of butter are perfectly fine and will make a crispy, buttery galette crust.
Place dough into a container with lid or wrap in bees-wax paper and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
Wash and cut tomatoes into slices, or halves if using cherry tomatoes. Wash and cut zucchini into 2-3mm slices. Make pesto, if making your own.
Once dough is ready to use, pre-heat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Divide dough into two halves and place on a well-floured surface. Roll dough into two 22-25cm disks, approx. 3mm thick. Move to the prepared baking tray.
Spoon 2 tbsp pesto into the middle of each galette and spread out, leaving a 5cm rim on each galette.
Divide tomatoes and zucchini over the pesto and fold the dough over the filling. No need to be accurate here. A rustic look is what works best in a galette.
Drizzle with some olive oil, kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Bake for 25-35mins in the pre-heated oven until crisp and cooked through.
Let cool for at least 10mins before cutting into pieces. Enjoy luke-warm or cold.