Chicken, Shallots and Honey Galette

Servings: 3 – 4                Time: Around 90 mins.                       Difficulty: Reasonably easy

IMGP3782 Mon 29th - My Chicken, Shallot & Honey galette - 8

An adventurous combination of great flavours gives this savoury “free-form” tart a sweet richness, due to the shallots. Serve with a white sauce to add moistness as it requires fairly dry cooking to avoid the dreaded “soggy bottom”.


Ingredients

    For the shortcrust pastry
  • 200g plain flour
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • 50g unsalted butter – cubed & chilled
  • 50g lard – cubed and chilled
  • 2 – 3 tbsp cold water
    • For the filling
  • Oil for frying
  • 400g chicken, cut into small strips or pieces
  • 180g shallots (or small onions) – cut into halves
  • 70 – 80ml runny honey
  • 1/2 egg, beaten

Directions

    Pastry
  1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.
  2. Add the butter & lard and rub in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
  3. Add the cold water and mix into a fairly stiff dough.
  4. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface.
  5. Roll into a ball then flatten into a pancake shape between two pieces of cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
    6. Filling
  6. Put about 20ml oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat. When quite hot, add the shallots and fry gently for about 10 minutes, turning them over occasionally. (Try to retain their shape as halves)
  7. Towards the end of this time add 2 – 3 tbsp honey, lower the heat and cook for a few minutes, stirring carefully. Make sure the shallots are fully coated.
  8. Remove the shallots and set aside to cool. (Keep any liquid for use in a sauce)
  9. Add more oil if needed and lightly fry the chicken, turning the pieces so that all sides are browned. Again, add honey towards the end and coat all surfaces. Remove from heat and add to shallots. Leave to cool. (If you have any honey left over, pour it over.)
  10. Turn the oven on to heat up to 200C/fan 180C. Cover a baking sheet with baking parchment and dust lightly with flour.
    11. Assembly & Baking
  11. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a large circle.
  12. Add salt and pepper to the filling according to taste then gently pile the filling into the centre of the pastry circle.
  13. Make about 10 – 12 “V” shaped cuts around the edge of the pastry, removing the small triangular cut outs. This will enable easier to fold in the sides. Fold in the side pieces, using egg wash to bind them as you do this. Then egg wash the top and sides.
  14. Use a cake lifter to transfer the galette to the baking tray.
  15. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Check at 20 as it may be necessary to cover the open middle section with a small piece of foil to avoid the contents burning.
  16. Remove and place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Either serve warm or cool completely to enjoy later.