Leek Tart Pre-heat to 375F.
This Leek Tart would make a beautiful and tasty centerpiece for a New Years buffet or brunch.
I perfected the recipe after returning from a trip to the Loire Valley.
My favorite Chateau of all was Villandry. There are acres of vegetable and flower beds laid out in clever and unusual patterns. Diagonal red flowering kale plants lined up perfectly encircled by leeks planted three deep around the edge of the bed. You see beds of cauliflower, Swiss chard, collard greens, squash, broccoli. Whether you love or shun eating vegetables the display of vegetable beauty in the Villandry gardens will have you yearning for a bountiful vegetable dish.
We were served a Leek Tart in the café at Villandry. No one in France will tell you how they make a dish let alone give out their recipe. I remembered the taste and texture and worked on the recipe when I came home. The secret ingredient is crème Fraiche added to sautéed leeks baked in puff pastry.
Enjoy eating the baked tart with a glass of chilled Loire valley Sancerre or Pouilly-fume; you can easily imagine yourself sitting at a quay side table at a café in St. Honore.
LEEK TART Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
You can make your own or buy puff pastry. Heat oven to temperature specified on the puff pastry package. Pepperidge Farm puff pastry package contains 2 sheets and weighs 1.1 pounds. The Whole Foods puff pastry (the stores in my area), contain two sheets and weighs 14 ounces. You can use any puff pastry product; adjust the amount of leek filling.
4 tablespoons butter
3 to 4 leeks – washed, cleaned, sliced on a diagonal in pieces one-fourth inch wide
1 teaspoon kosher salt (to your taste)
one cup crème Fraiche
one-fourth teaspoon ground black pepper (to your taste)
one-fourth teaspoon grated nutmeg
parchment paper
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted 40 minutes
one-eighth cup cream
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter until it begins to sizzle, add leeks and sauté 3-4 minutes. Season with salt, reduce heat to medium low and sweat until leeks are soft, about 15 minutes, season with pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from stove and cool for 10 minutes, then mix in crème Fraiche. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Defrost pastry according to directions on the package (30-40 minutes). Place a piece of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the puff pastry on a cookie sheet, lay puff pastry on top of parchment paper, and heap cooled leek filling onto pastry leaving one-and-one half inches of dough clear around the edges. Cover filling with the second sheet of pastry and trim one-half inch off around the edge (you now have one inch of excess dough around the edge of the tart). Roll the edge of the dough inward and press down to form a tight dough seal; crimp the edge all the way around with your fingers or the tines of a fork. Use the extra pieces of dough to make decorative ropes, leaves, a tree, initials, or anything you choose. It may look as though the decorations are too thick. Don’t worry, the dough puffs as it bakes due to the many layers of butter in the dough. I made a tart last week and used the excess dough to make a wreath, holly leaves and berries. It was festive and beautiful to look at sitting on a large wooden board on a Holiday buffet.
Use your fingers or a pastry brush to brush the surface of the crust with cream or milk, this produces a shiny crust. Pierce the top crust with a knife to make a few air holes for steam to escape, cut around the edges of decorations, or cut a design into the top crust.
The finished product looks delectable and very professional. Your family or guests may ask where you bought the tasty looking tart!
If the dough feels sticky after building the tart, chill 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. Bake 45-50 minutes. You can freeze the tart at this point. Place frozen tart in a 400 F. oven for 20 minutes, lower heat to 350 F. for 20-25 minutes.
Slide baked tart onto a cooling rack as soon as it comes out of the oven to prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving or you can serve the tart at room temperature.
