Butternut Squash, Balsamic Onions & Ricotta Galette

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

In a food processor (or a medium bowl) combine flour and salt for crust. Pulse (or cut) in the butter. Once butter is mostly into small chunks, pulse (or cut) in cream cheese. (On a side note- I really love using a food processor to make this dough – less mess!) Once butter and cream cheese are in pea size pieces, pulse in 1/4 cup of water until dough begins to come together (adding a 1 tablespoon of water extra as needed.) Remove from food processor and shape into a disc (without handling the dough too much.) Wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator.

While dough chills, peel butternut squash and cut into 1/4″ thick slices. Place on a baking tray (covered with parchment or aluminum foil if you want) and roast it in the preheated oven until tender, roughly 20-25 minutes. Then remove from oven and set aside.

To make onions, cut them into 1/8″ half circles. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Place sliced onions in skillet and begin to let onions cook – do not stir. Continue to cook onions until they begin to brown, 10-15 minutes. Once onions are cooked, stir in balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until vinegar reduces down, about 5-10 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Once dough is chilled, squash is roasted, and onions are ready, blend together the remaining filling ingredients (ricotta through mozzarella on the above list) in a bowl.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pie dough out to a 12-14″ circle and transfer to a baking sheet covered in parchment paper (you can also do an ungreased baking sheet but it wasn’t easy to remove the final product.) Spread the ricotta filling evenly over the pie crust, leaving a 2″ border around the edge of the crust. Next, evenly sprinkle 3/4 of the balsamic onions over the ricotta mixture.

Finally, start in the middle and overlap the butternut squash in a circle continuing until all of the ricotta mixture is covered. Fold the edges of the crust over some of the filling, pleating as needed to make an even circle.

Combine the egg yolk/water and brush the outer edge of the crust.

Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of the butternut squash and place the galette in oven.

Bake galette until crust is golden brown and the cheese has puffed – somewhere between 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining balsamic onions. Cut into wedges and serve. (This is great hot, room temperature, or even straight from the refrigerator as a leftover!)