When it comes to baking, I’m a bit of a control freak. I weigh my ingredients, temper my ingredients, mise en place as best as possible, etc. But when it comes to cooking, it’s a different story. Recipes are rough guidelines. “Seasoned to taste” is how I like to roll (i.e. the name of this blog, “cook til delicious”), with many meals being inspired by the contents of the fridge.

This galette is baked, but was definitely created by my “cooking” self. Originally I had planned to make a fig frangipane galette, but decided last minute to go more savory because, ahem, I didn’t have anything planned for dinner. To be honest, I didn’t precisely measure anything when I made this. (I wasn’t planning on blogging it until an Instagram photo of it sort of exploded, and multiple people asked for the recipe, haha.) This whole thing was definitely fridge-inspired. I had half a pie crust left over from this galette, plus a carton of figs hanging out. My labneh obsession is still going strong so labneh was the easy choice here; but I’m sure ricotta or even bleu cheese would be excellent as well — or even a bit of yogurt and sour cream mixed together. So consider the following “recipe inspiration” — honestly, with fresh figs and pie crust you can’t go too wrong.

Fig, Onion, & Labneh Galette

Makes one medium galette | Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• A batch of your favorite single crust pie dough (I used this one)
• 1/3 cup labneh
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 scallion, sliced
• A dozen medium fresh figs, some halved and some quartered
• Leaves from 1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• Olive oil / butter, for the onions
• Balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper
• 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water or milk, for egg wash
• Balsamic syrup* for drizzling, optional

Method:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your pie crust to about 1/4″ thick in whatever shape you want. Trim the edges if you prefer, or leave them a bit ragged for a more rustic look. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
2. Caramelize your onions. Over medium heat, warm some olive oil / butter in a medium non-stick pan. Add the onions, a pinch of salt and sugar, and turn heat to low. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until caramelized (20-30 minutes). Add some balsamic vinegar towards the end of cooking, if desired. Set aside.
3. Mix labneh with the white parts of the scallion (reserving the green for garnish) and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove chilled pie crust from the refrigerator. Spread the labneh over the crust, leaving a 1.5-2″ border on all edges. Scatter the caramelized onions evenly over the labneh. Arrange the figs, cut side up, over the onions (I put the halved ones around the edges and the quartered ones in the middle). Scatter the thyme leaves over the figs. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling, and crimp to seal. Return to the fridge to chill until pastry is firm, at least 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400F with a rack in the middle. Prepare egg wash. When ready to bake, brush edges of pastry with the egg wash. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Cool slightly. Garnish with reserved scallion, some flaky sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic syrup. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

*For the balsamic syrup, I put about 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar plus a couple spoonfuls of sugar in a small saucepan and boiled it down until it reduced by half, stirring occasionally.