This best vegetarian main dish for Rosh Hashanah - Los Angeles Times
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This best vegetarian main dish for Rosh Hashanah

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Adeena Sussman learned a version of this recipe from fellow cookbook author Shaily Lipa, who learned it from her grandmother. The dough shares the French pâte à choux technique of cooking on the stove top first, but the addition of vinegar makes it easy to roll. The resulting crust is incredibly flaky and Sussman’s smoky eggplant filling, decadent. If you keep kosher, omit the cheeses. The tart will still be delicious without.

Smoky Eggplant and Feta Galette

2 hours. Serves 6.

Filling
1 jumbo or 2 medium Italian eggplants (1½ pounds)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small jalapeño, seeded and sliced into thin rings
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dough
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Topping
1 large egg, whisked with ½ teaspoon water and a pinch of salt
½ cup (¾ ounce) finely grated kashkaval or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 small Roma tomato, sliced into thin rounds
6 pitted Kalamata olives

1 Make the filling: Heat a grill to high or turn on a gas burner on a stove top to high. Place the eggplant over the heat and cook, turning, until charred, about 10 minutes. Chop the charred eggplant until chunky and transfer it to a large bowl. Gently fold in the feta, dill, olive oil, jalapeño, salt and black pepper until incorporated.

2 Make the dough: Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Bring the vegetable oil, ⅔ cup water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. (The water will form ½-inch bubbles that begin to pop through the oil). Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the vinegar, then add the flour mixture all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour drinks up the liquid and a unified, velvety dough forms; let the dough cool for 10 minutes.

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3 Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

4 Set a large piece of parchment paper on the counter. Using lightly floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Place it in the center of the parchment paper and gently roll it into a 12-inch round about ¼ inch thick. (The dough is soft.) Transfer the dough-topped parchment paper to a baking sheet.

5 Dollop the filling into the center of the dough round and spread it out, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Fold the dough up and over the filling so that the dough forms a 1-inch frame around the filling.

6 Top the galette: Brush the edges of the dough with the egg mixture, then sprinkle the edges with the cheese. Arrange the tomato slices and olives on top of the galette and bake until the tomatoes are wilted and the dough is golden and flaky, 35 to 40 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

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Make ahead: The dough can be prepared, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerated for up to 1 day before rolling and baking.

Recipe adapted from “Sababa†by Adeena Sussman

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