Elawin
Guru
This is a pretty versatile dish and the quantities given will serve 2-3 as a stand alone meal with one or two toppings and a salad followed by dessert, or 4-6 with extra toppings and accompaniments (see Notes below).
Prep. time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
225 g plain (all-purpose) flour, regular or wholemeal
1/4 tsp salt
100 g butter, or baking margarine such as Stork
150 ml cold water to mix
For the filling:
3 tbsp light olive oil or vegetable oil, or 50 g butter
6 large leeks, finely shredded
8-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped, to taste
50 g finely grated hard cheese such as an extra mature Cheddar or Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste
Toppings and accompaniments of choice
Method:
Prep. time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
225 g plain (all-purpose) flour, regular or wholemeal
1/4 tsp salt
100 g butter, or baking margarine such as Stork
150 ml cold water to mix
For the filling:
3 tbsp light olive oil or vegetable oil, or 50 g butter
6 large leeks, finely shredded
8-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped, to taste
50 g finely grated hard cheese such as an extra mature Cheddar or Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste
Toppings and accompaniments of choice
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/180 fan/400 F/Gas mark 6.
- Make the pastry by sifting the flour and salt into a bowl and adding the butter. Cut into the flour with a round-ended knife, then rub in with the fingertips. The mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.
- Sprinkle the water over the mixture, and mix to a crumbly-looking paste with the knife. If the paste is dry, add a little more water a teaspoonful at a time, or if the paste is too dry, add a little more flour to reach the right consistency.
- Draw together with the fingertips, then turn out on to a well-floured board and knead quickly until smooth and crack-free.
- Put the dough into a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
- Heat the oil or butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan, and add the leeks and the garlic.
- Fry gently for 15-20 minutes until the leeks are soft, covering the pan for the first 12 minutes or so. Then take off the lid and cook until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally to prevent the leeks sticking to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Roll out the pastry to line a lightly oiled 20 cm/8 in flan tin. Bake the pastry for approx. 10 minutes until it is golden brown and the bottom is cooked.
- Flatten the pastry back down by covering it evenly with the leek and garlic mixture.
- Sprinkle with the grated cheese and any other toppings (see Notes) and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve warm, with a salad of your choice.
- I used half the quantities as a stand alone meal with some red onion rings as a topping and served it with salad leaves and a vinaigrette dressing, which was sufficient for one person. I cooked it in a glass heat-proof serving dish.
- You can also cook it in a pizza tray or on a flat non-stick baking sheet, and add toppings such as onion rings, anchovies, olives, tomatoes, and fresh herbs at the same time as the cheese. (Think of it as a pizza!)
- You can substitute melting cheeses, such as mozzarella or goat's cheese if you wish, or even use onions or an onion/leek mix instead of just leeks.
- It is based on a Riverford recipe https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/view/recipe/leek-parmesan-tart which uses ready-rolled puff pastry instead of short crust pastry
