Tempting delights for autumn
Nigel Slater offers up a silky leek pie and crunchy, softtextured biscuits to lift the spirits.
From now until early spring, leeks will have a permanent presence in this kitchen, to blend with potatoes for soup or simmered in chicken and barley stews. They will be mashed into purees for pasta and fried for filling a baked potato. Cooked slowly and softened without colour, they will fill openfaced tarts of goat’s cheese or bacon.
The first fat leeks of the year went into a pie this week, cooked until silky, their flesh seasoned with grated parmesan, then wrapped in pastry and baked.
Another time, I might be tempted to add chopped leaves of tarragon or a smattering of blue cheese, a spoonful of mustard or a dusting of smoked paprika. This time, it was simply leeks and cheese, a union that ticks every box for me.
I also baked a batch of soft, nutty cookies, their surface nubbly with salted peanuts. Biscuits so tender you could crumble them over a bowl of stewed apples or a glass dish of icecream. Topped with roasted peanuts, I even sprinkled a few with extra flakes of sea salt — buttery, nutty, salty little treats to pass around on an autumn afternoon.
You can make this in a large springform cake tin or bake freeform on a baking sheet. I take the middle route, baking the pie freeform, but using the outer ring of a 23cm cake tin to hold the pastry in shape. The ring isn’t essential, but it does stop the pastry splitting as it bakes. The flavour of leeks is less strident if you cook them without colour, placing a piece of greaseproof paper over the surface of the sliced leeks as well as a lid, so they partly saute, partly steam.
This is a good recipe for using up small, hard ends of parmesan.
Method
Make the pastry: cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour with your thumbs and fingertips or use a food processor. When the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, add the yolk and enough water to bring it to a rollable dough. Using lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a ball and refrigerate for half an hour or so.
Remove and discard the roots and very darkest green tips of the leeks. Slice the leeks thickly (12cm), then wash thoroughly in cold water to remove any grit that can get trapped between the layers. Put them in a colander and shake dry. Melt the butter in a large pan with a heavy base. Put the leeks into the pan, cover with a disc of greaseproof paper or baking parchment, push it down to cover the surface, then cover with a lid and let them cook — a cross between sauteeing and steaming — for about 25 minutes, lifting the paper and stirring once or twice, until they are soft, but not coloured at all. Season with black pepper and a little salt.
Sprinkle the flour over, stir, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the creme fraiche and grated parmesan, then set aside. Set the oven at 200°C and place an empty baking sheet in the oven.
Line another baking sheet with baking parchment.
Lightly oil a 23cm cake tin, place it on the lined baking sheet, then place the pastry over it, pushing it gently down into the corners and leaving the overhanging pastry in place. If you are taking the freeform route simply lay the pastry on the lined baking sheet.
Fill the middle of the pastry with the leek and cheese mixture. Now fold the edges of overhanging pastry over the filling, leaving the middle free of pastry. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Place this baking sheet on top of the hot baking sheet already in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes until the pastry is golden. If the leeks are colouring too much, then place a piece of foil loosely over the surface. Remove from the oven and leave to settle for about 10 minutes. If you used a cake tin, run a palette knife around the edge to release the pie, then cut into thick slices and serve.