Two galettes — one sweet, one savory — for your Mother’s Day tea

Come spring, I get greedy about produce. Radishes of every shape, size, and hues of red and purple stain my eye line, bunches of asparagus snuggled together with thick rubber bands, long spring onions with tails like reeds: Please, get comfy in my tote bag. And don’t even get me started on the fruit. I grab pinky-green rhubarb stalks by the fistful, because if you know, you know. And the strawberries! Tiny, perfect jewels that really shouldn’t be allowed the same name as the ones in the supermarket in December. I drag home the bounty and there’s only one thing to do: make a galette.

A galette is a free-form tart of pie dough pleated around seasoned produce. The technique and ingredient list is similar to pie, but it’s infinitely more chill. Fruit galettes make for a dessert that requires no more fancy baking equipment than a sheet pan and a rolling pin (or, in a pinch, a wine bottle). A savory galette can be a meal in and of itself or at least the main component of brunch, lunch, or dinner accompanied by a simple bean salad or rotisserie chicken.

The following two galettes, Strawberry & Preserved Lemon and Roasted & Raw Radish, sing the praises of spring produce, but their beauty also lies in the fact that, if you happen to stumble upon these recipes in the dead of winter, any ol’ berries and roots will taste great. Because when wrapped in buttery dough and baked until just shy of burned, any strawberries go jammy-sweet and even the most bland of radish is enlivened with enough acid and salt.

Serves 6-8

Strawberries are mysterious things. Though largely available year-round in American supermarkets, they really only taste good raw during a couple months in the spring. (Unless you happen to live in California, in which case I hear that window is longer.) When cooked, strawberries — any strawberries — chill out a bit, releasing their jammy sweetness. If you do happen to have a hookup to really great, in-season berries, you may not need extra sugar, which is why I must implore you to taste your unbaked galette filling. You also may note that there’s no salt in this filling: not an accident. Instead, preserved lemon does that seasoning for you — but if you can’t get your hands on the salty-tangy citrus, use ½ very finely chopped whole seeded lemon (yes! The whole lemon!) and ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ¼ teaspoon Morton, plus more to taste.

Serves 6-8

Crunchy radishes slathered with good butter and sprinkled with salt is one of my favorite snacks. A thickly sliced radish topped with a wedge of Parmesan cheese and drizzled with bitter, grassy extra-virgin olive oil is a close second. This galette is an excuse to eat both of those snacks in excess. Which brings me to my next point: If you’re not roasting radishes, turn on the oven already. What follows is a celebration of texture.