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Our Tomato Galette Recipe is a great way to use fresh summer tomatoes! This galette recipe is super easy by using a store bought puff pastry, and cooked directly ON THE GRILL! No need to heat up the house with your oven.
Nothing. I repeat. Nothing beats the flavor of fresh summer tomatoes when they’re nice and ripe. It’s what summer is made for! Fresh tomatoes can be used for so many amazing meals. They’re great on their own (yes, you can eat wedges of them just like an apple), or simply prepared for a number of refreshing summer dishes.
A tomato galette recipe is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the fruits of the bountiful season.
Table of Contents
What Is A Galette Versus A Tart?
A galette is a rustic sweet or savory pastry, which is piled with fruits or veggies, in the center. The edges of a galette are then gently folded in to create the crust. Galettes are free form and rustic looking, vs a tart, a tart is made using a tart pan for a more uniform circular look. Tarts also have a thicker crust at the base.
Ingredients + Substitutions
Recipe portions are in the recipe card.
- Pastry Dough or Puff Pastry – You can make your own homemade pastry dough, like we do in this Berry Galette and our Apple Galette recipe. Or, for an easy recipe you can make quickly, buy a store bought puff pastry dough, defrost, and roll it out.
- Fresh Tomatoes – We recommend heirloom tomatoes for their density. If heirlooms aren’t available look for Hot House or Beefsteak tomatoes.
- Salt – Add kosher salt to the tomatoes to help season them and remove excess water and use finishing salt over the top of the finished grilled galette.
- Garlic – Minced garlic cloves add a nice flavor similar to a bruschetta flavor.
- Olive Oil – Extra virgin olive oil is a layer of flavor.
- Mozzarella Cheese – Use a low moisture shredded mozzarella cheese versus the fresh so it’s not overly wet as it goes on the pastry dough.
- Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated Parmesan adds a nutty and salty flavor.
- Fresh Basil – Add fresh basil to the top of the galette for a bright flavor. You can also substitute with tarragon, sage, or even fresh thyme.
Preparation
Do this 30 minutes prior to making galette. We do this right before we fire up our grill.
To start, remove some of the moisture out of the juicy tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes into 1/4″ rounds, place them on a baking sheet with a cookie drying rack, and salt them on both sides. This will release enough of the moisture, so that the galette puff pastry won’t be soggy when cooked.
How To Make Tomato Galette
Roll out the puff pastry dough to about 12″ wide on parchment paper. We used a rectangular pastry dough. If you’re making your own dough, or have circular puff pastry, follow the same instructions and roll it out to a 12″ round. Most puff pastry comes in sheets.
For the base layer of the galette we’re adding a garlic infused oil.
Chef’s Tip
To make this you’re going to want to shave garlic, using a fine grater, and then mix it with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Then use a food safe brush to gently brush the oil/garlic mixture on the puff pastry.
Layer the mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.
Grill Set Up
Use a pizza stone to avoid burning the galette. If you are using a Big Green Egg or Kamado Grill use the stone with your plate on the grill grate. If using a kettle grill, place the lit charcoal around the outside edge of your grill and place the stone in the middle. We do not recommend using a pizza steel as it will get too hot. Pellet grills are already built for indirect cooking. Just place the pizza stone on your pellet grill grate.
Grill Galette
Make sure your grill is preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow the pizza stone to warm up with the grill.
Place the formed tomato galette (still on the parchment paper) onto a pizza stone in the center of your grill. *Going any higher than 400 will cause the puff pastry to burn while the tomatoes roast.
Cook for 10 – 12 minutes. Using a pizza peel, peek under the pastry to see if the bottom is golden and remove when it’s golden on the top and bottom.
If you are using homemade pie crust it can take up to 30 minutes to cook. Puff pastry cooks faster.
Oven Modification: Follow the same directions – preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and place the pizza stone in the center rack. Bake on the center rack using the same timeframes.
Wine Pairing for Tomato Galette
Summer tomatoes and fresh rosé go together like peanut butter and jelly. Look for a light bodied, dry, rosé for this dish. The bright light berry flavors and vibrant acidity is a perfect match for the juicy tomatoes, fresh basil, and sharp parmesan on the top of the buttery pastry dough.
For a red wine pairing consider pinot noir or a lighter bodied wine that will hold up and not overpower the buttery flavor.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crostata is the Italian term for a Galette which is a pastry dough that is baked with sweet or savory flavors. It’s often referred to as a rustic pie.
Yes, you can use pie dough for a galette and just fold over the edges. You can also use puff pastry – but be sure that if you use puff pastry it will cook faster so adjust your timing.
The key tip to avoid a soggy bottom be sure you do not use too many ingredients. And be sure the tomatoes are salted to remove excess water. This is also why a low-moisture cheese is also recommended.
Tools Used
- Pizza Stone – If baking this on a grill or even in an oven, a good pizza stone radiates heat well. Avoid using a pizza steel.
More Summer Tomato Recipes for the Grill or Smoker
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Easy Tomato Galette on the Grill
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds heirloom or other ripe tomato
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound package puff pastry
- ½ cup low moisture shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 5 basil leaves, chopped
- finishing salt to taste
Instructions
- Preparation: Slice tomatoes into ¼ inch slices and salt both sides. Place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes (up to an hour) to remove excess moisture from tomatoes. Preheat grill to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and place pizza stone per your grills directions as the grill warms up.
- Grate: Using a extra fine grader, grade garlic clove and mix with olive oil in a small dish.
- Roll out puff pastry to a 12" by 16" rectangle and brush with the garlic oil mix, leaving 1 1/2 inches along the edges unbrushed as that will be folded over onto the tomatoes.
- Build Galette: Sprinkle mozzarella cheese into the center of the galette and then add tomatoes in layers. Top with Parmesan cheese and basil (again, leaving 1 1/2 inches along the edge with no ingredients).
- Grill: Place onto the pizza stone in the grill for 10 – 12 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and tomatoes are cooked. Remove with a pizza peel and serve warm. Top with a pinch of finishing salt.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this for dinner this evening because I had several heirloom tomatoes that were going to go bad if I didn’t use them up (oh, and I’d never made a tomato galette before and I was dyjng to try it! ). I used a pre-made pizza crust instead of puff pastry because I also needed to use that up. Aside from that, I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that I used a combination of Swiss, Gouda, and Asiago cheeses instead of mozzarella and Parmesan, and used probably 15 to 20 fresh basil leaves (julienned) on top instead of 5, most of it before baking, with a few fresh ones scattered on just before serving. I also sprinkled some za’atar over half of it (I was afraid some of the people eating might not care for it), and extra salt and freshly cracked black pepper over the whole thing (which the original didn’t call for). I had also salted the tomatoes prior to draining, and they were in a single layer.
Unfortunately … the galette tasted a little bland. We could tell it had great potential; it just needed more salt, garlic, and savory herbs in the tomatoes. I think the garlic should not have been left under the cheese layer directly on the crust, but it (or an additional, equal or greater amount of garlic) should have been spread on top of the tomatoes. Actually, and somewhat surprisingly, the half with the za’atar on it was just about perfect – it was like that was the missing ingredient. I would definitely make these modifications next time. You could use a combination of dried oregano and basil, or perhaps herbes de Provence, if you don’t have or dislike za’atar, but it needs SOME kind of added herb or spice on top of the tomatoes. Fresh basil, salt and pepper alone just weren’t enough to flavor it, IMO. Nevertheless, the recipe has good basic structure and instructions, and I WILL make it again.
Hi ! Do you think I could make this earlier in day for dinner in evening? Thanks!
Absolutely. Galette’s are typically served at room temperature, so if you bake earlier in the day, it will be absolutely fine.
This looks absolutely delicious and a perfect use for those big heirlooms coming up in my garden now. Plus, you really can’t beat anything that has puff pastry! Perfect summer dish!
This is such a simple but elegant recipe, it looks delicious! I love that it uses frozen puff pastry.
What a perfect dish for summer! If only I had a green thumb and could grow some delicious tomatoes… I’ll just have to hunt down some heirlooms in the store!
I’m not gonna lie, my tomatoes aren’t doing too hot this year (yet)! BUT that’s what all the great farmer’s markets are for 😉
Yesss! Another excuse to eat more tomatoes!!
Always a good excuse to eat more tomatoes!
What a fantastic recipe! I’ve wanted to find savory puff pastry recipes, so this is right up my alley. Thanks for posting – I’ll be making this soon.
Thanks! It’s a great savory idea for puff pastry indeed!