Roots vegetables are available all year round, so when it’s spring, people forget about root vegetables, and try to get their hands on fresh produces like asparagus, fiddle heads, rhubarb etc… but do you know that the peak season of root vegetables last till spring? When in season, they have a sweeter flavor and juicier. A friend gave me a new type of root vegetables that I’ve never seen or heard when we met few days ago – skirret ! It a perennial vegetable that can be enjoyed just like carrots. Instead of simply just roast it and toss it in salad, I turned it into a galette made with whole wheat and olive oil.
If you have trypophobia, you might find it a bit scary by looking at the clump. This huge batch of skirrets are fresh out of the garden. They are easy to grow, but low demands thanks to its skinny roots that makes preparation much more finicky than other root vegetables. If you think washing a bunch of muddy carrots is a pain, try scrubbing a dozen roots, you’ll definitely feel much better.
At first glance, they look like ginseng to me, but much thinner. It’s actually a sweet, crunchy root vegetable related to the parsnip. Honestly, I don’t really like carrots, because of its carroty taste. I used to only eat carrots in the curry, but I still had to force myself to swallow it. Even though skirret is part of the family, but it has a unique taste and vaguely carroty! The texture was actually a bit like potato after it’s cooked; a floury texture due to the high levels of starch. The leaves are edible too, often use as herbs like parsley or coriander.
Preparing skirret may seem like a pain, but it’s actually not. Since there was remaining mud hidden between the crown and the clump, I cut the roots with a scissor, and immersed them into a bowl of running water. Let it be for approx 5 to 10 minutes. Then, simply scrub the roots and cut them into desirable lengths. You can cook it however you prepare your carrots! Such as stewed, braised, batter-fried or even mashed with potatoes!
Since I’ve been wanting to make galette for a while, and I’ve got some colorful carrots in the fridge, I decided to make a root vegetable galette! I replaced the butter for the dough with olive oil, which definitely didn’t come out as flaky as a buttery dough would be, but I liked it! Olive oil added extra nutty flavor, and skirret made it sweeter.
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup All purpose flour
- ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup Cold water
- 1 Egg (for egg wash before baking)
- 3 Small carrots
- ~20 skirrets
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Feta cheese (for serving)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and olive oil. Use a fork to mix it if you don't have a food processor.
- Sprinkle the cold water over the flour mixture gradually while still whisking until the flour start to come together and form a dough
- Transfer the olive oil pastry dough to a lightly floured surface, gather it together and form it into a round shape.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before rolling out.
- While the dough is chilling, you can start to prepare the filling.
- Slice the carrots into sheets or spiralize it
- Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.
- Sauté the carrots in the pan until a bit soften and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Set aside
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (or 180 °C).
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll out on a lightly floured surface, and transfer to a prepared baking sheet
- Place in the filling in the center of the dough, leaving 2 inch border all around.
- Carefully fold over the pastry border by overlapping the edges and press gently
- Brush the edges of the crust with egg
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown
- Let cool for approx 10 minutes before cutting
- Before serving, sprinkle some feta cheese on top.
- Bon appétit!
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