Meatless Monday – Breakfast Galette

Are you looking for a special Valentine’s Day breakfast treat for your honey? (Or perhaps, a Valentine’s Weekend breakfast)? Here is a festive twist on your traditional omlette or quiche that looks impressive but is easy to make.

During our summers in Maine, we have a lot of house guests and I like to have an assortment of foods available as people start rolling out of bed. Sometimes its hard boiled eggs, cut up fruit and muffins or bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. My favorite though, if I get up early enough, is to make a frittata with whatever veggies I have in the refrigerator. Frittatas are very forgiving, will stay warm for quite a while and are still delicious at room temperature. A galette is more of a cross between a pie and a quiche, more of a rustic free form tart. They can be sweet with apples and cinnamon or savory with vegetables and meats. This version, with veggies, eggs and cheese is perfect for a rainy/snowy morning paired with a little fruit salad and a hot cup of coffee. The red pepper makes it Valentine colors and the shape of the red pepper strips really lends itself to making hearts. I usually form the red pepper into a pinwheel shape but for Valentine’s Day the kitschy hearts are pretty cute.

I know its morning and you don’t want to go to the trouble of making a pie crust-sometimes I don’t either. You can buy an already prepared pie crust or dough that you can easily roll out into a circle. There is very good wheat, whole grain and gluten-free dough available which makes this really easy. I like to have them on hand, just in case the whim strikes me to whip up an apple pie or something, especially in the fall when fruit is falling off the trees. Or you can skip the crust altogether and make a frittata. For that I would recommend using a cast iron pan which can go from sautéing the veggies right into the oven to bake. A homemade pie crust is delicious though if you have the time. Click on the link for easy step by step directions and video: http://allrecipes.com/howto/making-a-pie-crust-step-by-step/

Breakfast Galette

Servings: 4-6
Time: 75 minutes
Difficulty: medium
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1 pie crust

6 fresh eggs

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1/Tbsn butter

6-7 mushrooms, sliced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 cup assorted cheeses (grated)

1/2 red bell pepper

salt & pepper to taste

Roll out dough and place in a pie pan, letting the excess go over the edges.
Saute mushrooms until they lose their water, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add scallions and mix them in to let them soften.

Crack eggs into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Reserve a bit of egg white to brush onto crust. Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

In this order, place veggies into pie crust spreading evenly as you go: zucchini, mushroom mixture and cheese. Pour egg mixture over the top. Arrange red pepper strips into a pinwheel or make them into four hearts.