Courgette Galette with Garlic Butter and Feta

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A rustic and homely dish at its heart, this quick courgette galette is made with simple ingredients: tender, flaky, and rich pastry slathered with lemony herbed feta cheese, fresh courgettes, and a drizzle of garlic butter.

It’s nearing the end of summer, and while the sunny days may be slipping away from us, this vegetarian courgette galette (also known as zucchini galette) is bursting with the vibrant flavours of the sun-soaked, quaint French countryside.

The beautifully fresh, uncomplicated flavour pairings are simple but unbelievably scrumptious. The ethos of Oh My Veg is all about celebrating plant-forward vegetarian meals. So when I saw my local farmers markets (and even the grocery stores!) were overflowing with gorgeous green courgettes, I had to snap some up!

Courgettes have a mildly sweet, pleasantly bitter flavour that I adore. Combined with hints of lemon, salted and creamy cheese, fresh herbs, and garlic-infused butter? Yes, that’s right — If you’re anything like me, just the thought of golden garlic butter drizzled over a dish is enough to make your mouth water.

If you want to make full use of the bountiful seasonal produce, follow along with this simple courgette and feta cheese galette recipe with me today!

Is Courgette Galette with Feta Vegan, Nut-Free, Gluten-Free, and Soy-Free?

This easy courgette galette recipe is naturally vegetarian, nut-free, and soy-free. It’s the perfect light and summery brunch or picnic item to suit considerable dietary needs!

In order to make a vegan courgette galette, you’ll have to make a few adjustments. Firstly, use your favourite dairy-free and vegan butter to make the pastry (U.K. readers, I love Flora Salted Plant Butter; U.S. readers, try Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Butter.). Mix the dough using water, and brush the crust with aquafaba (liquid from tinned chickpeas) for a golden finish.

Make the filling with vegan Greek-style feta — storebought or homemade. Make the garlic butter with olive oil or vegan butter, per your preference.

To make a gluten-free courgette galette, you’ll need to use gluten-free flour in addition to xanthan gum (a stabilizer).

What are the Ingredients for Courgette Galette?

Courgette, known in the U.S. as zucchini, is a variety of summer squash with a delicate taste and soft texture. They taste unbelievably sliced thinly, basted in garlic butter, and browned.
Feta cheese is a salty-brown white cheese from Greece. The tangy flavor of feta cheese complements the courgette perfectly, making a gorgeous base for our galette.
Garlic butter is a must for me when I make simple vegetarian dishes. It elevates this galette to the next level.
Plain flour, called “all-purpose flour” in the U.S., is the main ingredient to make our galette crust.
Butter enriches our galette crust, making it beautifully crisp and crumbly. However, alternatively, vegans can replace dairy butter with a substitute like Flora Plant Butter or Miyoko’s European Cultured Butter.
Milk or water brings the galette crust together. Milk adds a delightfully rich, buttery taste to the dough, but water works fine too.
Egg yolk brushed over our galette crust will make it an attractive golden brown.
Nigella seeds, also known as “kalonji,” “black caraway,” and “black cumin,” amongst other names, sprinkled on our galette crust, provide a hint of subtle nuttiness and spice.

Courgette galette with a slice taken out.

What is a Galette?

As the name may suggest, galettes are a French dish. They can be either sweet or savory, often including fillings like strawberry (See: Elderflower Infused Strawberry Galette), stone fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, leafy greens, and other vegetables.

Unlike a pie or tart, making a galette is simple. Roll out a sheet of pastry — use shortcrust pastry for a galette crust, not puff pastry — place your fillings on top, and fold over the dough. The galette is supposed to be rustic and homely; in fact, the messier, the better. Perfection goes against the ethos!

Tips for Achieving a Flaky Courgette Galette Crust

Making homemade pastry for this savoury courgette and cheese galette is incredibly straightforward. It requires no more than three ingredients: plain flour (all-purpose flour, for our American readers), butter, and a liquid.

If you haven’t attempted homemade pastry before, it can be overwhelming. You can buy shortcrust dough as a shortcut, but I highly recommend giving this recipe a go. Here, I’ll list some simple tips to make the process foolproof.

Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. Whenever you bake, it’s vital to have very accurate measurements. Volume-based metrics, like cups, work fine for everyday recipes — but the investment is worth it for recipes where ratios are paramount.
Use cold ingredients. Don’t keep your butter at room temperature! While other bakes, like cakes, benefit from softened dairy, galette crust is a different kettle of fish. In conclusion, you should always use cold ingredients to ensure a beautifully flaky crust.
Incorporate the butter well. My mother always told me to mix in the butter with my hands until the pastry looked like sand. That advice hasn’t failed me yet! We want the crust to be evenly buttery and flaky.
No need to knead the dough. Try saying that ten times faster! We don’t need to develop the gluten, so there’s no need to overwork your dough. We want to make sure it’s mixed enough to hold together — that’s all.
Chill your dough. As mentioned above, cold ingredients are essential. When we handle dough, the heat from our hands causes the butter to melt. We don’t want that! Chilling the dough for 20-30 minutes will re-harden the butter so that during baking, it makes that crisp texture we’re looking for.

This Step-by-Step Courgette Galette Is …

Rustic and homely
Vegetarian, nut-free, and soy-free
Easily made vegan and gluten-free
Perfect for brunch, picnics, lunch
Quick & easy for beginner cooks

How do you make the galette not soggy?

To avoid making your homemade galette crust soggy, don’t roll the dough too thin. Secondly, make sure you pour out any excess liquid or brine from the cheese before spooning it on.

Can I use frozen courgettes for a galette?

Yes! You absolutely can use frozen courgettes for this delicious vegetarian courgette galette, but there’s one caveat. You’ll need to pre-cook your courgettes before you freeze them. When you defrost raw frozen courgette, it loses all its texture and becomes very wet and soggy. We want to avoid this, so pre-cooking your courgettes until just softened will help. If possible though, I always recommend using fresh produce.

Is galette dough the same as puff pastry?

No, galette pastry is not the same as puff pastry. Savory galette recipes use a plain shortcrust pastry, which is delicate and crumbly. On the other hand, puff pastry is made by layering cold butter slabs with pastry, creating a flaky and layered final result. While the ingredients are similar, because of the difference in preparation, the two pastries are completely unlike each other.

What is the difference between a pie and a galette?

In American English, a pie refers to a sweet dessert. It’s typically baked fruits encased within pastry, and they can be open-faced or covered by pastry. In British English, a pie is usually a savory dish with a pastry covering. A galette can be either sweet or savory, and it never has a pastry covering. It’s also a lot more rustic and doesn’t require any fancy baking material aside from a flat roasting pan, as the pastry is roughly folded over the edges.

Can you make a galette the night before?

Yes, you can make the galette the night before and reheat it the day after. You can also make certain components the night before and finish cooking them the next day.

What type of food is a galette?

A galette is a traditional French dish eaten for lunch or dinner. It’s made from a pastry base topped with a sweet or savory filling. The pastry is roughly folded over the edges.