Skillet Zucchini Galette
A free-form crust folded around roasted squash and scallion, baked in a cast iron pan over coals.
- calories
- 340
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 76
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 6
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 65 min
- water
- 90 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Flour, salt, and powdered butter premixed for crust | 2 cups mix | cut cold butter into flour at home, freeze the mix |
|---|---|---|
| Cold water | 6 tbsp | for bringing the dough together |
| Zucchini | 3 medium | sliced 1/4 inch thick; travels fine unrefrigerated for a day |
| Scallions | 4 | trimmed |
| Shredded mozzarella | 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp | cooler item |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Egg | 1 | for the crust wash; carry in a hard case |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals. You want a bed you can hold a hand over for three seconds, not flames.
- Toss the zucchini and whole scallions with the oil, salt, and pepper. Lay them in the skillet and set it over the coals for about 15 minutes, turning once, until the squash softens and browns at the edges. Pull them out and let them cool while you deal with the dough.
- Add the cold water to the crust mix a spoonful at a time and work it just until it holds. Do not knead it. Press and pat it into a rough 14-inch round on a clean lid or a sheet of parchment.
- Wipe the skillet, lay the dough in it, and let the edges hang over the rim. Scatter most of the cheese across the bottom.
- Chop the scallions. Layer the zucchini and scallions over the cheese, fold the overhanging dough back over the filling in overlapping pleats, and brush the exposed crust with beaten egg. Scatter the last spoonful of cheese on top.
- Cover the skillet with foil or a lid, set it on a thin bed of coals, and shovel more coals onto the lid. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan a quarter turn every 8 minutes so one side does not burn.
- Check that the crust underneath is browned before you call it done. Let it sit 5 minutes so the slices hold together.
This started as an oven recipe and an oven is the one thing a campsite does not have. A cast iron skillet with coals under it and coals on the lid gets close enough. The heat is less even, so the quarter-turn rotation matters more than any other instruction here.
Roasting the zucchini first is not optional. Raw squash releases a lot of water, and that water has nowhere to go but into the crust. Fifteen minutes in the dry pan drives most of it off. The cheese layer underneath the filling is doing the same job from the other side, sealing the dough against whatever moisture is left.
Packing
Crust mix goes in a freezer bag and stays frozen until the drive is over. Zucchini and scallions ride in a paper bag, not plastic, or they sweat. Cheese and egg in the cooler.
Variations
- Swap in shelf-stable grated parmesan and skip the cooler for the cheese.
- A spoonful of dried herbs or garlic powder in the crust mix costs nothing and covers for a bland pan.
- No skillet lid: invert a pie tin over the pan and pile coals on that instead.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/roasted-zucchini-and-scallion-galette