Leek Tart – a fluffy treat for your family

Fall and winter cuisine – comforting and warming. Time for leek tart!

The season for tomatoes and cucumbers, eggplants, zucchini, fresh peas and green beans is coming to and end. Now is the time for the sturdier fall and winter vegetables – savoy, white and red cabbage, celery root, parsnips, pumpkins, beetroot and leek. Now, at the beginning of their harvesting season, they are still tender, so I really enjoy using them for our family meals! From pumpkin soup to baked red cabbage to leek tart, everybody appreciates anew the gifts of the cooler season.

Getting the family together at the table – definitely easier in autumn

Since two of my children have grown old enough to do things without me, it has sometimes been hard to get all of our family together for meals in summertime. One will be at the sports club, one will be at the swimming pool. Or, to be honest, it may be myself who missed the proper time to begin making lunch or supper because I was getting carried away with gardening.

But now begins the time when everybody spends more time at home.

Supper is the new lunch

The traditional main meal of the day in Germany is lunch. But things have changed a lot withing the last 20 or 30 years – in most families both parents have paid jobs, so schools have extended their programmes into the afternoon. I still prefer to have a cooked meal at noon and sandwiches and a salad in the evening, but on many days I have to switch it around. Or we have leftovers from the previous day for lunch, and I cook supper. Especially when I know everybody will be there.

Cozy family weekends in fall and winter

I am looking forward to the autumn and winter weekends, when we will watch movies and play board games together. In case you did not know – board games are essential for German family life! Many families have a whole large chest of drawers, or even a wardrobe, full of board games. Ours are still looking for their proper place, I´m afraid. As it is, they are distributed all over the house…

So now begins the time when we will actually play them again. Our youngest child is turning six this fall, which means he can already play some board games that the whole family enjoys. Our favorite games are “Salagand” and “Settlers of Catan junior“: If you don´t know them, click on the links to check them out!

Workday cuisine, weekend cuisine

During the week, I often do not have the time to cook anything special. Our meals should be healthy and tasty, but also cheap and quick. So I will quite often just make some stew or stirfry. Always the same, but always different! Some vegetables are ideal for roasting in the oven, which saves a lot of time, too, But then there are days when I am able to put in a little more effort and am also willing to spend a bit more to treat the family to a particularly tasty meal (don´t worry, it is still easy and relatively quick). On those days, one of my favorite meals to cook is a leek tart.

If you have leftover shreds of bacon or ham, I am sure they will taste great in it; just add them together with the leek. However, the recipe as I give it to you is vegetarian. I love versatile recipes that you can easily alter to fit your needs and taste!

But now for the actual recipe!

Leek tart recipe

Ingredients for two adults and two or three children

For the crust:

300g wholemeal wheat flour

200g Butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

One medium sized leek

200g creme fraiche (if you are in Germany, take Schmand; if you don´t have either, use 100g sourcream and 100g cream cheese. In any case, please use full fat products)

200g grated Mozzarella (you can use other cheeses like Gouda or Cheddar)

3 medium to large eggs

1.5 teaspoons of turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper

How to make the crust

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Put all crust ingredients in a bowl and use a blunt knife to cut the butter smaller and smaller, which also connects the butter pieces more and more to the flour. When you reach the point where it looks like you can not chop the butter into any smaller pieces, use your hands to make a dough. – Of course, if you have a kitchen aid, you can simply let this device make the dough. If it is still very crumbly, you need to mingle the ingredients a bit longer. It will remain brittle, though.

3. Put the dough into a buttered pie or quiche skillet and press it down evenly to the bottom. Shape a rim, too. It should be about 3-4 cm high.

How to make the filling and bake

1. Separate the eggs.
2. Put the egg yolks in a bowl. Add turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir well.
3. Add creme fraiche and stir well until you have a smooth paste.
4. Add one half of the grated cheese. Stir well again.
5. Cut the leek into fine rounds, “crumble” it to separate the layers into rings. You don´t need to be very acribic with this.
6. Stir the leek into the paste.
7. Beat the egg whites until you get a very stiff foam.
8. Gently (!) stir the egg foam into the paste. Be careful to distribute it evenly, but without destroying the foamy texture. In case of doubt it is better to retain the foamy texture even if that means it is not distributed altogether evenly.

1. Put the egg and leek mass into the skillet (onto the crust dough).
2. Bake for ca. 20 minutes. The top of your tart should be in the middle of the oven, so the rack should be put in the lower third.

The leek tart is ready when the cheese is golden brown.

This dish is more filling than you may think due to its high fat and protein content. You will only need some salad with it.

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