Asparagus, Pea and Leek Galette with Wild Garlic and Pistachio Pesto

Serves: 4-6 - Time:

Asparagus, Pea and Leek Galette with Wild Garlic and Pistachio Pesto

Even the sight of this galette brings me joy –the vibrancy of spring on a plate. If the thought of pastry-making fills you with dread, please  read on for a galette  (a freeform tart) is one of the easiest things to make. This cream cheese pastry is a doddle to make, a doddle to roll out and there’s no troublesome tart case to worry about. If you really can’t be bothered to make the pastry –or you have simple run out of time- you can use shop bough puff pastry although you will need to prick the base to stop it rising. You can add almost anything to this galette: meat eaters may want to drape some prosciutto or bresaola over the top before serving or scatter over some prawns for protein. You can also use as much of the wild garlic pesto as there is (I specify 5 tablespoons in the recipe) although I would advise a little restraint as it is potent stuff. We still have plenty of wild garlic north of the border but if you can’t source any you can use basil and add a garlic clove to the pesto ingredients.

Ingredients

  • For the pastry
  • 120g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 110g full fat cream cheese
  • 210g plain flour
  • For the wild garlic and pistachio pesto
  • 50g wild garlic leaves, washed and dried
  • 50g shelled pistachios
  • 85g parmesan, grated
  • 150ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • For the filling
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large leek, trimmed and finely sliced
  • 400g asparagus, trimmed
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten
  • 150g frozen petits pois
  • To serve mint or basil leaves (optional)
Asparagus, Pea and Leek Galette with Wild Garlic and Pistachio Pesto

Method

  1. For the pastry, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Mix ½ teaspoon salt into the flour then add to the butter mixture. Bring the ingredients together to form a rough dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Roll out the dough to a small circle, wrap in cling film and chill for one hour.
  2. While the dough is chilling get on with making the pesto and filling.  Put the pesto ingredients in a food blender or processor and process to a thick paste. Taste and season with salt and ground black pepper. Set aside.
  3. For the filling, heat the oil in a saucepan and add the chopped leek. Stir over a gentle heat for about 15 minutes until the leek is soft but not coloured. Set aside.
  4. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the asparagus for one minute. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain and pat dry.
  5. Heat the oven to fan 190°c, mark 6. Roll out the pastry on a sheet of lightly floured baking parchment. You are aiming for a rough circle, about 30 cm diameter. Slide onto a flat baking sheet. Spread the leeks over the centre, leaving a margin of about 3 cm around the edges. Arrange the asparagus on top. Fold the uncovered edges of the pastry up over the ends of the asparagus. Brush the pastry rim with beaten egg. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is set and golden.
  6. While the pastry is cooking, after about 20 minutes, put the petits pois in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover the peas. Leave for 2 minutes then drain.
  7. To serve, sprinkle the peas over the galette and drizzle over about 5 tablespoon s of the pesto. Scatter over some mint or basil leaves.
Asparagus, Pea and Leek Galette with Wild Garlic and Pistachio Pesto