"It takes how long?!"

That was my exclamation when I re-read the recipe for the galette pastry I was about to embark on. I had read that I needed sour cream (and bought yoghurt), I had read that I needed lots of butternut squash (and only had two baby ones), and still I was determined. Then I read the pastry instructions, which included, "Place bowl in the freezer for an hour" and "leave butter in the freezer for an hour." That was the final straw. It was already almost seven, I'd been out all afternoon and I was starving.

When I get hungry, I get grumpy. Boy, do I get grumpy. So what ensued was not pretty. That was stomping, and loud poking about in the kitchen, followed by more stomping. All done while poor N cowered on the sofa quietly suggesting we phone for a curry.

But I was angry now, and I was determined to make a galette. I had onions, I had squash, all I needed was some damn pastry and it would all be fine. So I improvised, and for the first time every made my own pastry using my own recipe. I then rested this in the fridge while I fried the onions, grated cheese and checked on the squash that N had set roasting when he got in.

Then I mixed this all together, placed it on the tray and folded the pastry around it. Voila!

Okay, so it's not the greatest folding job in the world. But I'd like to award myself marks out of ten for at least sticking with the project!

As it happens the pastry turned out to be the nicest thing about the galette. I think the filling really suffered from the amount of onions we crammed in. It would be perfect with more squash and less onions. We added rosemary instead of the usual sage, and a grating of very strong cheddar rather than parmesan. I think the flavour choices were good, if a little oniony!

I will definitely be making this again, although the filling needs some thought. With that in mind I am only going to put the pastry recipe here as I reckon you can fill the pie with whatever you like. Plus I am just so proud that the pastry worked out when I just made it up as I went along!

Galette Pastry.

8oz flour
3oz cold butter, cubed
2 tbsp bio yoghurt
dash of lemon juice
enough cold water to make into a dough - add very gradually, you don't want a sticky mess on your hands.

Place the flour in a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour so you get a breadcrumb like mixture. Then add the yoghurt and lemon and mix together. Finally add enough cold water to make into a dough. It should come together and be slightly elastic. Leave in the fridge until you need to roll it out, or for at least half an hour.