late summer pasta & spicy zucchini galette recipes

In the late summer everyone is up to their ears in zucchini and looking for creative ways to use them. Spicy and savory chocolate sauces pair perfectly with the veggies that are in abundance right now like zucchinis, tomatoes, sweet corn and herbs. Making a batch of herbed compound butter to keep in your fridge or freezer to use in a pinch makes creating flavorful meals with variety easier.

Zucchini, Tomato & Corn Galette with Spicy Cocoa Chili Butter

Ingredients

For the pastry:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

about 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar plus a small handful to top the veggies we used a combo of Cabot and Grafton Village Cheese

8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1/4 cup full cream plain yogurt

about 1/4 cup ice water

coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 beaten egg and coarse grain sea salt to finish pastry

For the filling:

1 large tomato thinly sliced

1 medium sized zucchini thinly sliced cross-wise

1 sweet onion (cippolini, walla walla or vidalia) diced

1 ear sweet corn cooked, the kernels cut off of the cob

For the compound butter:

1 Tbsp unsweetened cacao powder find our premium single origin Ecuador cocoa powder here

about 2 Tbsp fresh chopped herbs like chives, parsley, fennel, oregano, basil, or a combination of any

1 tsp smoked paprika

3 Tbsp unsalted butter softened to room temperature, we like to use cultured butter

or check out our recipe for a savory and spicy compound butter here: https://www.tavernierchocolates.com/savory-spicy-compound-butters-for-veggies-meats-toasts/

Method

Combine flour, grated cheese, ground pepper and salt in a bowl. Add cubed cooled butter and blend with a pastry cutter or pulse in a food processor until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Add yogurt and blend with a wooden spoon until incorporated and you get a lumpy mixture (don’t overmix!).

Add ice water about 1 Tbsp at a time and mix into dough with fingertips until it just holds together in a lumpy ball.

Wrap in plastic wrap or put in an airtight plastic container and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Cream the soft butter, fresh herbs, smoked paprika, cocoa powder and flaked sea salt to taste in a small bowl. Let set at room temperature (if it’s not too hot in your kitchen, you don’t want the butter to melt!) so the flavors commingle.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and arrange tomato slices in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until they lose most of their liquid and start to caramelize.

When tomatoes are finished roasting, remove from oven and turn down heat to 350ºF.

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 12″ wide and 1/4″ thick. It won’t be perfect, and that’s perfect!

Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Put a thick schmear of the softened herbed butter in the middle of the rolled out dough, leaving about 2″ along the sides free.

Arrange sliced tomatoes on top of the butter in an overlapping fan shape so the butter is completely covered. Arrange an even layer of the cooked corn kernels on top of the tomatoes, then the diced sweet onion on top of that saving about 1/4 for the top, then the zucchini slices in a fan shape. Top with the remaining diced sweet onion.

Starting in one place and continuing from each fold, fold the pastry dough aver edges of the veggie filling to create a rustic tart (I didn’t take photos of this part of the process, but I will next time I make the galette and add them here!). Again, it won’t be perfect, but that’s exactly what you want! The idea is for the pastry to hold the veggies inside like a rustic bowl while they cook and release their juices.

Brush the folded edges of the pastry with a lightly beaten egg and dust with coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper. Sprinkle the last bit of grated cheese and small dollops of the compound butter on top of the exposed veggies.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the crust is brown and the veggies have softened and just started to brown.

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Fresh Summer Vegetables, Black Garlic, Bitter Cocoa & Herb Pasta

Ingredients

fresh or dried pasta we used dried fusilli

one medium sized zucchini

one ear cooked sweet corn, kernels cut off

cherry tomatoes

fresh herbs like basil, thyme, tarragon, oregano

two cloves fermented (black) garlic at room temperature

one teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder find our premium single origin Ecuador cocoa powder here

toasted walnuts (optional) and grated romano cheese

cold pressed olive oil the best quality you can find

Method

Cook the pasta according to its specifications, drain and leave about 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water in the pot. Turn the burner to low. Return pasta to the pot, add a good glug of olive oil and stir. Put the pot back on the still warm burner on low.

Finely chop the fresh herbs. Grate the zucchini into fine short ribbons. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half cross-wise. Soften the black garlic into a paste by pressing the back of a teaspoon on it and making a short smearing motion.

Add the grated zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cooked corn kernels, black garlic and herbs to the pasta, stir to combine. Add a little more olive oil a little bit at a time if the pasta looks dry and the black garlic, veggies and herbs aren’t slightly sticking to the cooked pasta. Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with toasted pine nuts and grated romano. Voila!

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Pro tip: sprinkle cacao nibs on an accompanying green salad for a crunchy, nutty treat! Find our premium single origin Ecuador cacao nibs here