Oven-Caramelized French Onion Galette
Oven-caramelization became my go-to way to create golden-brown, jammy alliums after we posted this French Onion Soup recipe, and it has been a revelation. No more toiling over the stove for hours—I now just cook the onions in the oven, check on them every 15 minutes while I work from home or binge watch all of Harrison Ford’s filmography (my two current quarantine activities), and voilà! Caramelized onions and French onion soup at any time of the day.
The ease by which this usually arduous task is done had me thinking: what else needs the French-onion treatment? French onion grilled cheese. French onion noodle soup. All wonderful options. But what really stuck was this: French onion galette. (Which may come as no surprise, since are bit galette-obsessed here at Meryl.) Flaky pasty, jammy onions, melty cheese—what could be better? Nothing. Literally nothing. OK, let‘s go.
French Onion Galette with pick-your-own-adventure dough
In the recipe below, I use Andy Baraghani’s galette dough, made with olive oil and full fat yogurt (and because we’re in quarantine, I only had 2% Fage Greek yogurt, and y’know what, it still worked beautifully). I would say the texture is different than your typical dough—less flaky than a butter crust, more golden-brown and crunchy. It’s a lovely option, especially if you’re trying to use up yogurt or if you’re trying to moderate cholesterol or saturated fat. However, if you want a more traditional, buttery, flaky dough, the Smitten Kitchen dough is—hands down—my favorite galette dough ever. The key is this: Use whatever dough you like. This is your dinner, after all.
Time: 4 hours
Active Time: 30 minutes
Serves: Anywhere from 2–4, depending on your sides.
Drink: Cru Beaujolais, Oregon Pinot Noir, Schiava from Italy. Lighter-style, juicy reds will shine here.
Dough
Filling
Make your dough
1. Combine dry dough ingredients
Stir flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Combine your wet ingredients in a separate bowl; add them to the dry ingredients
Whisk together olive oil and yogurt in a smaller bowl. Make a shallow well in the center of your dry ingredients and add the yogurt-oil mixture. Using a fork, little by little, start stirring dry ingredients into the yogurt-oil mixture. Once it’s halfway combined and your fork seems unfit for the job, use your hands to combine ingredients into a shaggy dough form. It doesn’t need to be smooth and pretty, but it should come together. If too dry, add a little ice water. If too wet, add a little flour.
3. Shape dough, wrap in plastic, and chill in the fridge for 2+ hours
Using your hands, gently pat and shape the dough into a one-inch-thick round. Wrap it in plastic so it doesn’t dry out and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 48.
Caramelize the onions
4. Preheat oven to 400 F
5. Prep onions
Peel the onions, slice them down the middle lengthwise, and slice them into half moons about 1/8 of an inch thick and toss with all of the olive oil.
(Get ready to cry, there’s no escaping it.)
6. Roast onions in a Dutch oven with the lid on for 2–3 hours; stir every 15 minutes
As you stir the onions, check for stuck, burning bits and add a tablespoon or two of water/wine/broth if needed, to loosen things up. When the onions are deep golden-brown, reduced significantly in volume, soft, and sweet, they’re ready.
From left to right: onions at 45 minutes, onions at 1:15, onions at 1:45, onions at 2:15. Look how they shrink!
NOTE: If the onions look, taste, and smell ready, but there is still a lot of moisture in the dutch oven, you can place the pan on the stove over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid is gone.
9. Add apple-cider vinegar, fish sauce, salt, and pepper to taste; let the onions cool completely
Moving them to a separate dish will speed this up.
Assemble your galette
So your dough is chilled. Your onions caramelized. Let’s do this.
10. Preheat oven to 400 F
11. Form galette
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or silpat.
On a floured surface, roll out your galette dough until it’s about 1/4-inch thick, and about a foot in diameter. If it sticks to your work surface, use a bench scraper or a knife to peel it up, add a bit more flour to the work surface, and roll it again. If it cracks, just pinch it back together with a little water. Transfer the galette dough onto the lined sheet pan.
Add the dijon first. Spread it out to reach an inch or two from the edge of the dough. Then add, in layers, half the cheese, the onion mixture, and the rest of the cheese. Gently fold the sides in toward the center—feel free to make cuts in the dough to aid in folding. Don’t worry if it breaks—you can pinch it back together, but it also doesn’t really matter if the dough has some tears.
12. Brush with egg wash; sprinkle with salt
In a small bowl, whisk one whole egg and a tablespoon of cold water. Brush onto the exposed surface of the dough. Sprinkle some flaky salt if you’d like!
6. Bake 45(ish) minutes
Bake that puppy til the cheese is bubbly and the dough is gloriously golden-brown. Start checking at 35 minutes and go until the level of brown and bubbling looks good to you.
7. Rest; serve
Let it cool for 10 or 15 minutes before serving. Slice it up and eat it with a nice bright salad.
Um, excuse me?
Oven caramelization? That’s not how Julia Child did it. (And Meryl played her in a movie once.)
Nope, it sure isn’t. Julia Child is a goddess, but she also lived in a time when people didn’t have insane distractions. If Julia Child had Netflix, she may have not been the Julia Child we know and love. She may have loved shortcuts like oven-caramelization.
Is it as good as stove-top?
When you weigh time, energy, and taste, we find this method to be worthy of a spot in your kitchen. If you like stove-top caramelization better and have the time, go for it.
Fish sauce and apple-cider vinegar?
Oh yeah. I found this tip from Serious Eats a few years back and it’s a game changer: the flavors add lift and depth that elevate the entire dish.
Do I have to use cheese?
No at all! Obviously, cheese is delicious. But I do understand that some of you are allergic to it! This is equally delicious with no cheese at all.
I don’t have dijon, will other mustard work?
You bet! Grainy mustard would also be delicious. You can also skip it entirely if you don’t like mustard.
What other galettes you got?
Right this way.
