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Just Joshing .. Mr Katz knocks it out of the park again. Courgette galette with chilli honey dressing

In my humble opinion Josh Katz writes great cookery books, they are both inspiring and reassuringly uncomplicated. This recipe from his latest book Berber and Q on vegetables is a case in point.

This is a great snack with drinks or a simple lunch with a salad. 

I have taken the liberty of adapting the recipe slightly to fit my tastes, appetite and ingredient availability.

I used a pre rolled sheet of puff pastry and consequently half the amount of the mascarpone-creme fraiche mixture. I also didn’t have any manouri cheese so I substituted Parmesan.




Ingredients

  • 100g mascarpone
  • 50g crème fraîche
  • Grated zest 1 lemon
  • 1 large garlic clove, grated
  • Pre prepared sheet of all-butter puff pastry
  • 1 free-range egg yolk
  • 100g parmesan cheese - original recipe uses manouri 
  • 1/2 large courgette, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp zataar 
  • 2 tbsp olive oil


For the chilli-honey dressing

  •  1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 red chilli, blackened, peeled and chopped
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil


Method

  • For the chilli-honey dressing, get one decent sized not too hot red chilli and either blacken it over a grill or put in oven for 20 mins or so.
  • Put the honey, lemon juice and chilli in a small bowl, then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. 
  • Heat the oven to 160°C fan. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Put the mascarpone, crème fraîche, lemon zest and garlic in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. 
  • Put the puff pastry sheet on the baking sheet and brush the egg yolk around the border. Prick the centre with a fork 10 or 15 times.
  • Smear the mascarpone mix in the centre of the rectangle (I didn’t use all of the amount in the recipe as it seemed too wet) then grate the Parmesan cheese over it and arrange the courgette slices overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with thyme, zataar, some salt and pepper, and a drizzle of oil. (I also added anchovies and have experimented before with cherry tomato halves too)
  • Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and puffed at the edges, and the base is crisp.  
  • Slide the galette onto a serving plate and drizzle liberally with the chilli-honey dressing. Serve immediately while still warm.
  • Sprinkle over some rocket or serve a salad on the side.

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