Sweet Potato & Garlic Galettes

These galettes have become my thing. They're what I make if I'm required to make something. I love them for several reasons, not least of which being that they're the brainchild of one of my favourite people, Yotam Ottolenghi (whose cookbook I've already posted about). While some assembly is needed, they're actually really easy to make, and they tend to be crowd-pleasers: garlicy, crispy/crunchy, salty, spicy... all the important boxes are ticked. Like most people, I like making things with a high reward to effort ratio.

The amounts in this recipe are approximate and don't really matter - you can use as much or as little of each as you see fit.

...The moral of the story is, you can basically put anything on puff pastry and it will magically look/taste incredibly schmancy.

Sweet Potato & Garlic Galettes

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe in Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Makes 2 galettes

1 small sweet potato (try and get a long/skinny one if you can)
75 grams puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
50 ml plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
50 grams feta
2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 red chili, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoon chopped parsley
coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste

First, put the sweet potato on a cookie sheet and bake it in its skin for about 30 minutes at 390°F/200°C. It should be mostly soft but still a bit raw on the inside (check by inserting a sharp knife into the centre). Allow it to cool completely, then peel the skin off and cut into slices 1 centimetre thick.

While the sweet potato is in the oven, roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface; you want it to be about 2 mm thick. With a sharp knife, cut your sheet of pastry into rectangles (I got 2 out of mine after trimming). Place the rectangles on a parchment lined cookie sheet and poke them all over with a fork. Put the sheet in the fridge to let the pastry rest/chill for at least 30 minutes.

When the pastry is done resting, brush each rectangle with the beaten egg, then spread a layer of Greek yogurt on the pastry leaving a 1-centimetre border around the edges. Arrange the potato slices on top of the yogurt, slightly overlapping and making sure to keep that border clear. Crumble the feta on top of the sweet potato and sprinkle with the chili and pumpkin seeds. Bake for about 22 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown (if they're golden on their undersides, they're perfect).

While the galettes are in the oven, stir together the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley. Brush the galettes with this mixture as soon as they come out of the oven. Mmmm... garlic.