Harvest Moon Apéro Hour
A laid back spread that bridges late summer and early autumn.
Begin your Harvest Moon dinner with a stone fruit and burrata salad, roasted tomato galette, and pumpkin velouté with brown butter.
Harvest Moon
Dinner Party Guide
Stone Fruit & Burrata Salad
serves 4
My hot take is the peach window is very small. One day they’re hard, the next day they’re perfect, and four hours later, they’re bruised and mealy. Biting into the perfect peach with its juices running down my arm feels like I won the stone fruit lottery. All to say, when they’re in season, jump on the train.
Shopping List —
3-4 stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines, and/or plums
cured Moroccan olives (Kalamata olives are a good substitute)
extra virgin olive oil or agrumato oil
acid like lemon juice or champagne vinegar
salt to taste
sugar to taste
8 oz burrata
Maldon salt
basil
Equipment —
cutting board & knife
platter
Steps —
Slice the peaches just before serving so they don’t oxidize.
Toss the peaches with a sprinkle of sugar, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice or champagne vinegar.
*Tip: Like many of our apéro salads, sometimes it’s less about the exact amount and more about what you feel is the right amount. With many fruits, the sweetness depends on the season, ripeness, and just overall quality — but this is especially true for stone fruit. So be intuitive! Taste and adjust the salt, sugar, and acid as needed. If you go a little heavy-handed on the sugar or vinegar, remember the tart sweetness will cut through the fat and creaminess of burrata.
Plate the peaches in a serving bowl or platter. Arrange the cured olives in and around the peaches.
Place the burrata in the center of the peaches and either pull the burrata in half or slice with a knife exposing the soft curd and cream.
Sprinkle the burrata with maldon or finishing salt, cracked black pepper, and a heavy drizzle of olive oil. Garnish with torn basil. Serve.
Sugar Roasted Cherry Tomato Galette
serves 4-8
You’ll notice in the recipe for pâte brisée that you need to pulse the flour and butter together until you reach a sand-like consistency. This may wrong as we in the States are used to making flaky pie crusts. So what’s the difference?
The fat in pie crust is cut into the flour to leave small pieces of fat distributed evenly throughout the dough. When baked, the fat melts and releases steam which creates pockets in the crust, resulting in a flakier texture.
Whereas in pâte brisée, the butter is incorporated more thoroughly and evenly into the flour. This creates a more homogeneous dough and prevents the formation of long gluten chains. The result is a more consistent texture, a finer crumb, and a tender crust.
Shopping List —
for the pâte brisée
250 grams ap flour
6 grams salt
15 grams sugar
125 grams diced cold butter
1 ea whole egg
32 grams cold milk
for the sugar roasted tomatoes
3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
sugar to taste
salt to taste
red wine or sherry vinegar
olive oil
to assemble
sugar roasted tomatoes
about 3 oz goat cheese
basil or arugula
egg wash (1 egg + a splash of cream)
Equipment —
food processor
sheet tray with parchment and a rack
additional sheet try for baking
pastry brush
Steps —
for the pâte brisée
After preparing the mise en place, chill all the ingredients for at least 20 minutes.
In the food processor, mix together the flour, salt, and sugar.
Add the butter and pulse until you reach a consistent sandy texture.
Mix together the eggs and milk.
Continue pulsing until the dough begins to come together.
Turn out and knead until just smooth. Then, form the dough into a flat disc and wrap in plastic. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight before rolling out.
for the sugar roasted tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 450ºF.*
*for less color and more concentrated sweetness, roast at a reduced temperature for a longer period of time. For example: 375ºF for about 30 minutes.
Toss the halved cherry tomatoes in a bowl with salt, sugar, and a healthy dose of olive oil and your preferred vinegar.
Roast the tomatoes on a sheet tray with a rack cut side up until the tomatoes are just blistered around the edges and release some of their liquid, about 8-12 minutes. Allow to cool.
to assemble
Pull the pâte brisée to room temperature 20-30 minutes before rolling.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Roll the disc into a circle about 1/8” thick.
Brush the center with a little olive oil. Arrange the roasted tomatoes and in the center of pâte brisée, leaving about a 2” lip around the edges. Dot the tomatoes with goat cheese.
Fold dough up and over the tomatoes, creating pleats as you go around by gently pressing on the dough. Fill in any holes with more tomatoes.
Egg wash the crust using a pastry brush.
Bake the galettes on a sheet tray for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and garnish with basil or arugula. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Pumpkin Velouté with Brown Butter
serves 6-8
I used to play this game called “soup or puree.” Blended soups can be a little too thick, in my opinion, especially if they’re made in advance. As always, use your intuition and thin with stock or water when reheating if needed.
Don’t skip (or skimp) on the brown butter. It adds a nutty richness to the pumpkin.
Shopping List —
4 lb sugar pumpkin, seeded and split in half
8 oz butter, divided
2 leeks, white part only, quartered lengthwise, and finely sliced
1 small onion, small dice
3 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
5-6 thyme sprigs
1 cup heavy cream
lemon juice
maple syrup to taste optional
Equipment —
baking sheet lined with parchment or foil
dutch oven
blender
chinois or fine-mesh sieve
small sauce pan
Steps —
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Rub the split pumpkin all over with oil and season with salt. Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, flipping halfway through, for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove and allow to rest.
Over medium heat, add about 2 oz butter to a dutch oven. Sweat the onion and leeks until soft.
Add the stock, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a simmer.
Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin and add it to the dutch oven. Discard the skin. Bring to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add the cream and bring back up to a simmer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate small sauce pan, brown the remaining butter over medium heat until nutty and deep brown, whisking often to keep the butter solids from burning to the bottom of the pan.
Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs from the soup.
In batches, puree the soup in a blender until completely smooth, adding some of the brown butter each time. Strain each batch through a chinois.
Adjust the seasoning with salt, a splash of lemon juice, and maple syrup if it needs a little sweetness. You can also finish the soup with a swirl of crème fraîche, picked thyme, or an extra drizzle of brown butter.
Questions about these recipes? Email britt@parisdiningclub.com