This Classic Shiitake Mushroom Galette Recipe, with meaty shiitake mushrooms, white wine, herbs and buttery pastry, was inspired by freshly harvested shiitakes.
A Savory Galette For The Mushroom Lover
This savory mushroom galette, with caramelized onion, fresh marjoram or fresh thyme leaves, a drizzle of wine, all encased in a buttery rich pastry, was inspired by a gift.
Mushrooms?
Sure, I’ve loved mushrooms most of my life.
Having known only crimini mushrooms early on in life, later being introduced to oyster mushrooms, of course portobello and only recently those chunky king trumpets, I now have a favorite; Shiitake.
And so, an open-faced pie, to showcase the gift I received, is what I created for these first class mushrooms.
Wild Mushrooms vs Cultivated Mushrooms
Sure, us foodie folks would love to think we could forage much of the foods we cook with.
Perhaps we’ve seen wild mushrooms growing in our yard, or under a woodpile, but would we eat them?
Not me!
A friend contacted me with a harvest of shiitake mushrooms he had an abundance of.
He said he has been doing it as a hobby for a while and explained how he treats the wood for the shiitake to grow in.
Growing Your Own Shiitake Mushrooms
First – hard wood logs, oak in his case, are cut to 4-feet long.
Second – if you want to force the growth of the shiitake, you soak the logs first, but he said they grow bigger on their own.
Third – tiny starters are purchased in moist sawdust, holes are drilled throughout the logs, logs are stacked in a particular way in a shady spot, and the starters are placed inside the drilled holes.
Finally – if all goes well, in 18-months, you have a harvest of shiitake. Sometimes huge heads, sometimes small, but pure, meaty gorgeous shiitake mushrooms.
Wood vs Dirt Growing Mushrooms
What impressed me most, was that the shiitake mushrooms are among the few mushrooms that grow inside of wood, and actually eat every aspect of the wood.
For this reason, the stems on a shiitake are never cooked or eaten.
The stems have actually started to become wood.
If the mushrooms were never harvested and left to remain on the wood, they themselves would become hard and woody all the way to the top.
They become the wood!
I found this fascinating.
Which would you rather eat, wood or dirt?
What Is A Galette
In short, a galette is an easy recipe for an open faced, rustic pie, whether it has a savory filling, as does this recipe, or a sweet filling, as you might enjoy with my Apple and Marmalade Galette.
There is no need for a pie dish, or an extra layer of pie dough on the top.
It is said, that a galette was France’s take on the pizza; a pizza dough being a yeast bread dough while a galette is more of a pie dough.
I am certain, I will now be making Shiitake Mushroom Galettes as often as I can obtain these beautiful meaty mushrooms!
Mushroom Recipes You Are Sure To Love
It seems, at least to the general public, that mushrooms really became a hit when restaurants began to give more attention to Vegan dishes.
The mushroom, being a beautiful, rich and almost meaty substitute for meat, as you will often see in Burgers and Vegan Meatballs.
If you are a meat lover and have enjoyed the indulgence of a true Wellington, it is tradition to make a mushroom pate wrapped around the meat, before the pastry.
A must try, is Beef Wellington or Venison Wellington, if you are able to obtain venison.
- Venison Wellington – wrapped in puff pastry, with a wine reduction and mushroom pate tucked between the venison and pastry.
- Beef Wellington – a classic dish I learned to make from Gordon Ramsay and is a family favorite, and yes, a lovely mushroom pate and herb crepe wrap the beef before the pastry.
- Immune Wellness Soup – mushrooms, always mushrooms are part of the collage of antioxidant ingredients in a wellness soup.
- Mustard Wine Sauce Rabbit – for those refined foodies that have discovered the delicate flavor and tenderness of rabbit, the wine and mushroom sauce marries perfectly.
How To Make A Classic Shiitake Mushroom Galette
Like any pie, whether open or closed, the pie crust plays an important part in both flavor and the ability to encase its filling.
For this reason, we take care in preparing the pastry, which has butter, a small amount of grated cheese and mascarpone.
These ingredients aid in both flavor and stability of the pastry.
Next is to infuse flavor into the shiitake mushrooms and soften them enough to go into the pastry to bake.
In this step, the mushrooms are lightly sauteed in herbs and wine.
Once they are soft, the shiitake mushrooms go into the pastry with the addition of two types of cheese.
Selecting the cheese to bake in this galette can be a personal choice, however I find both Gruyere and a Pecorino Romano to compliment and not overpower the mushroom flavor.
A heavy basting of an egg wash, with with heavy cream and an egg, is what brings the golden color to the baked pastry.
Equipment Needed
- Food processor or dough blender and cutter
- Rolling pin
- Measuring cup and spoons
- Basting brush
- Heavy large skillet
- Citrus press
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Stovetop and Oven
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Mascarpone
- Flour
- Grated Cheeses
- Lemon
- Egg
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Onion
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Dry White Wine
- Marjoram or Thyme sprigs
- Coarse salt
- Heavy cream
Classic Shiitake Mushroom Galette Recipe
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- Food processor or pastry cutter
- Rimmed Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- Savory Pastry Crust
- 6 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Mascarpone or cream cheese
- 1 3/4 cups All purpose flour more as needed
- 1 tbsp Grated Cheese Pecorino Romano
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice and lemon zest 1/2 lemon
- 1 Egg yolk
Mushroom Filling
- 24 large Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
- 10 Marjoram or Thyme sprigs
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano grated
- 1/4 cup Gruyere Cheese grated
- Coarse salt to taste
- Egg Wash
- 1 Whole egg
- 1 tbsp Heavy cream
Instructions
- PastryIn a large bowl or food processor, whisk together the flour, butter, mascarpone and grated cheese until it become a dry crumble mixture. To the flour mixture, whisk in the lemon juice, zest and egg yolk until the mixture comes together into a pliable dough. A bit more flour if too sticky or a drizzle more lemon juice if too dry.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and roll the dough out into a disc and chill.
- Mushroom MixtureRemove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms, by simply twisting them where they connect to the head. Lightly brush off any loose dirt or bark and set aside.
- In a heavy large skillet, over medium heat, melt butter and add the olive oil. Add the finely chopped onion, cover and allow the onion to caramelize a little, or just until you see golden edges beginning to form.
- Remove the lid, add the crushed garlic and allow to cook a minute more. Layer all the mushrooms on top of the onion mixture, followed by a few herb branches, sprinkle in a little bit of salt and a drizzle of the wine over the mushrooms. Cover, lower the heat and allow to cook for about 5-minutes. Uncover, remove from the stove and allow to cool for 10-minutes, undisturbed.
- Assemble and BakePreheat oven to 350.
- Remove the disc of pastry dough from the fridge and create a lightly floured surface over a piece of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to solid 9-inch disc with an extra 2-inch border for folding over the edges. Remember this is a free form style of pie, so the edges have a rustic fold just to keep the filling in place. Set the parchment paper, with dough, on top of a rimmed baking sheet.
- Begin to place a sparse but even layer of the smallest mushrooms on top of the pie dough, remembering to leave the 2-inch edges bare. Sprinkle both cheeses on top, Transfer the caramelized onions on top of the cheese. Do a final layer of the prettiest mushrooms on top, in an even layer.
- Gently fold the edges up and over the edge of the mushroom, just enough to encase the edges but not cover the mushrooms. In a small bowl, whisk the whole egg and heavy cream. Use this egg wash to brush all around the dough, giving a double brushing so the galette dough will back to a rich golden color. Sprinkle the dough with a bit of coarse salt, place a few more sprigs of marjoram or thyme across the top and bake until the crust is golden, about 25-minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Best when served room temperature.
Video
Notes
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.