Zucchini and Goat Cheese Galette

It has been an eventful few weeks around here, and although I have not blogged too much, I have been very busy in the kitchen. My sister and her children have been visiting for the past three weeks from Nome, Alaska, so there have been a lot of mouths to feed. Betsy is a great cook herself, so it was fun to work in the kitchen together a bit as well. One thing I made in particular while she was visiting, I declared to be the best thing I ever cooked. The recipe looked so good, that I was even willing to turn the oven on in the oppressive heat we have been having in the Northeast. It seems like whenever Betsy, John, and Sarah are visiting, there is a massive heat wave. Just our little way of reminding Betsy of what summers are like here in the lower 48! My sister and the kids left on Wednesday, and she is anxious to have this recipe. I am anxious to make it again, especially since I still have a whole lot of zucchini and summer squash from the garden, and need to use them up. I adapted this recipe from a recent post of one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. I added some lemon, and used goat cheese instead of ricotta, and it truly was one of the most delicious things ever. You can serve it warm or room temperature, and you might want to make a few, if you are turning on the oven anyway, because the one I made went fast!

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Galette: (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
For the crust:
1 ¼ all purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
¼ tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled again
¼ cup sour cream
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Zest of ½ lemon
¼ cup ice water

Put flour and salt in a large bowl. Pit pieces of butter in the flour mixture, and using a pastry cutter, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. In a small bowl, mix together sour cream, lemon juice and water, and add to the butter flour mixture, mixing just until barely incorporated. Do not over mix dough. Pat the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
For the filling:
1 large or 2 small zucchini or summer squash (or both!), sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds
2 tsp. olive oil
1 large garlic clove, smashed and minced
½ cup goat cheese
½ cup low fat cream cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella (I used fresh mozzarella)
Big bunch of basil leaves, julienned
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Zest of ½ lemon

Spread the zucchini slices over a few layers of paper towels, salt the side facing up, turn over and salt the other side. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes to allow some of the water to seep out. In a bowl, mix the three cheeses, garlic, basil and 1 tsp. olive oil.

Roll the galette dough out onto a floured work surface until it is about 12 inches around. Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicon baking mat, and transfer the crust to the sheet. Spread the cheese mixture on the crust, leaving about a two inch border on all sides. Arrange the zucchini slices beautifully around the crust, and then fold the edges of the crust over slightly, pleating as you go. Drizzle the zucchini with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil.  You can brush the edges of the crust with an egg wash if you would like, though I forgot to do so.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire cooling rack for several minutes, slice and enjoy.