The roasted squash galette of your dreams

Wow everyone with this (easy) showstopper

Hello, and welcome to today’s Stories from Catbird Cottage! Picking up the pieces from the US election, I bet we could all use something especially delicious - both to bring new focus, and maybe some comfort. I’m recovering from putting on an early-week client tasting, to pivot and prep for *two* seasonal dinners this weekend (plus 3 breakfasts!) - different guests staying at the cottage, with each their own menus. I am buoyed by the enthusiasm these guests have shared in our correspondence before they’ve even stepped foot in our home. Honestly, it feels like a gift to be able to get to host people celebrating their special moments. People are extra happy or in a place of gratitude, and I get to be at the helm, making them even happier and creating their next great memories. It’s the best! We have some early 2025 dates up on the calendar, if you’ve been thinking you’d like to have a restorative overnight or weekend. We’d love to spoil you!

To tempt just a little further, the featured dishes this weekend include the braised lamb shanks + melted onions from my book (on polenta this time) topped with a gremolata and newly returned bittercress growing in spots around my garden. For the other group, I’ll be debuting roasted black cod with gorgeous purple (!) sweet potatoes, melted cabbage, and a spicy Aleppo chili-gochugaru sauce. I am thrilled about all of it, but am also up to my eyeballs in prep.

Even still I made time to create this post, because you need to eat deliciously, too. I cannot wait to hear how you love it! Today’s crispy sage-topped roasted butternut squash + caramelized onion cheese-pastry galette is for paid subscribers. Thanks so much if you can upgrade to paid. Your support directly helps me to consistently create meaningful content here. As a supporter, you’ll receive two additional newsletters each month that delve deeper into my process, with additional behind the scenes and more knockout recipes.

The first galette with this pastry, a good experiment.

We can all thank the spontaneity of putting together unlikely elements and in there, finding a genius moment. For today’s recipe, I stumbled upon this good idea while taking stock of what was in my fridge and pantry, after a big cocktail event I made hors d’oeuvres for, up in Hudson, NY. I had leftover dough (from this recipe I produced long ago for The New York Times), and I thought, why not roll it out and make a savory pie? The results were unbeatable.

A couple weeks later I was asked to produce 4 crowd-size galettes for a social gathering at a zero carbon architectural firm and I immediately knew I’d make that pastry dough again, only this time the filling would be elegantly laid with roasted winter squash. This galette is amazing and I hope you make it!