Christmas Eve is about friends, family, festivities, and...fish. At least in my house. We have always followed the Italian custom of serving fish and shellfish on Christmas Eve, even though we are not, in fact, Italian. But a great idea is a great idea, and it is a wonderful family tradition I am happy to honor in my own home. But the seven (7!!) courses of fish that is part of a traditional Italian Festa dei sette pesci (Feast of the Seven Fishes) is a bit much for this mama, house cleaner, tree-decker, present wrapper and cookie baker. I have paired down my aspirations to three courses, with salad and dessert, of course. (No fish in the dessert please.)
This year, I am making:
- Spicy Tuna Tartare on Cucumber Rounds
- Smoked Salmon and Potato Galette
- Individual Lobster Pot Pies
- Bibb lettuces with marinated anchovies
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
All of these recipes can be made in advance (from a few hours to a few days) and are perfect for a cozy meal for 4 or a few more, or doubled (even tripled) to feed a crowd. There are lots of opportunities for short-cuts--pizza dough and puff pastry from the grocery store, pre-cooked and shelled lobster meat from the fish counter, even frozen, peeled pearl onions, to make Christmas Eve dinner prep even easier on the chef. (There are other things to do on Christmas Eve, after all!)
Today's post is all about the fabulously easy, versatile, delicious smoked salmon and potato galette. It can be assembled in less than ten minutes, and after another ten to twenty minutes in a hot oven, it's ready to go, but it's even better at room temperature. It is excellent as a simple supper, a luxe luncheon main course, or the star of a brunch for two or twenty.
Smoked Salmon and Potato Galette
Recipe:
1 ball of pizza dough, about 20 ounces (store bought or homemade)
2 ounces créme fraiche (1 ounce softened cream cheese mixed with 1/4 cup heavy cream works too)
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 large russet potato, peeled
1 medium red onion
6 ounces smoked salmon
fresh dill
olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with racks in the top third and the bottom third of the oven.
1. Lightly grease a large baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil or cooking spray. You can also use a pizza stone and parchment paper if you have one. Stretch pizza dough out until it is evenly thin. I like thin, crispy crust, but if you like a crust with more heft and chewiness, stretch accordingly. Lay it out on your baking sheet (or pizza peel with parchment paper.) In a small bowl whisk together créme fraiche (or cream cheese and cream) and dijon mustard until smooth and gently spread onto the prepared crust.
2. Using a mandoline (I love my cheap, Walmart slicer) or a sharp knife, slice red onion into transparently thin slices and spread over the créme fraiche. Be lavish, but keep it evenly spread across the crust so that it cooks fully.
3. Now slice the potato into thin rounds--as thin as you can go without hurting yourself--1/8 inch thick is fine. Spread across the thinly sliced onion. You can overlap the slices slightly in a scale-like pattern if you are feeling especially clever (an ode to the theme of the evening) but a spiral pattern looks quite nice as well. If you have more of a rectangular shape to your gallette, uniform rows of slices look smart as well. Season with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and a few healthy grinds of fresh black pepper, and pop it into the top third of the hot oven.
4. When the potatoes are nicely cooked (prod with a fork, there should be no resistance when pierced) after about 10 minutes, shift it to the bottom rack and continue to cook another 5-10 minutes or so, until the crust is nice and firm and golden on the bottom and bubbly and brown on the top. Remove it from the oven and slide it onto a cooling rack.
5. Arrange smoked salmon slices on top. Sometimes I like to go for a rustic, haphazard look with big, generous pieces of smoked salmon scattered across the surface of the galette, and other times gentle folds of silky thin salmon neatly placed look nicer. Do what looks good to you. Gently squeeze the juice from half a lemon over the top, add another grind or two of pepper and salt to taste, and a scattering of fresh chopped dill.
This recipe can feed 4, 6, or even 8 people as a first course, and many more when sliced into small, bite sized rectangles and passed as an hors d'oeuvre*. For more than 6 or 8 people, make two separate galettes. Simply double the ingredient amounts.
*If you are serving this recipe as an hors d'oeuvre, dress it up a little: place the salmon in a nice, even layer over the galette and then slice with a very sharp knife (or pizza cutter.) Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of fresh, chopped dill and a tiny spoonful of caviar if you have it. Sophisticated and festive.
Next Post: Spicy Tuna Tartare and Individual Lobster Pot Pies
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