Leek and goat cheese tart

Ingredients: For the pastry:

25g firm goat cheese 110g plain flour 25g vegetable fat (Trex), cold 25g butter, cold a large pinch of salt

For the filling:

600g leeks 175g same goat cheese as used for the pastry 10g butter 3 eggs, beaten 220 ml double cream 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced salt to taste coarsely ground black pepper

Equipment:

a 7 ½ inch (19cm) deep fluted tart tin with a removable base

Method:

First make the pastry, so that it has time to be chilled and rested. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until all the ingredients are roughly mixed.

Add one tablespoon of cold water at a time, if needed, to bring the pastry together. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and gently knead until you have a smooth dough.

Cover in clingfilm or place inside a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the filling. Prepare the leeks by trimming away any tough green stems. Wash the remaining leeks in plenty of cold water to get rid of any grit. Then cut in half lengthways and cut into one centimetre chunks.

Preheat the oven to 190°C, or gas mark 5.

In a frying pan, place the butter and let it start to sizzle before adding the leeks and salt.

Fry over a medium heat until soft and slightly translucent. This normally takes about 10-12 minutes. Once the leeks are cooked, transfer them on to a sieve placed over a bowl and leave to drain. If the leeks have a lot of moisture, place a weight over the leeks to extract the maximum amount of water.

Roll out the pastry and line the greased tart tin. Prick the base with a fork and place some grease proof paper onto the base before placing ceramic baking beans over the base to stop the pastry from rising.

Bake the pastry case for 20-25 minutes. The pastry should be golden in colour.

Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper from the tart case. Mix together the crumbled goat’s cheese and drained leeks.

Place this mixture evenly over the base of the pastry case.

In a jug, whisk the beaten eggs with the double cream and season with a little salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Carefully pour all the contents of the jug over the leek and cheese mixture.

Place the tart tin back into the oven and bake for a further 3540 minutes. The filling will become firmer, but it will still have a wobbly centre. The surface should be golden.

Take out of the oven and leave to settle for 10 minutes before attempting to release the tart from the tin.

Serve with a green salad or cooked beetroot.