Stilton and Leek Tart
For this year’s race in Silverstone, we found some lovely Stilton at our local market with a good cheese selection and baked it into a warm and hearty savory tart. This recipe is from a book entitled London: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by Sybil Kapoor. I was also tempted by some of the high tea and dessert recipes as well, next year I might have to make some of the scones and trifles that caught my eye! While at the library, I also found a number of books by former contestants of the Great British Baking Show that have lots of fun recipes and ideas. I can’t wait for the weather to cool off again so I can bake my way through some of those as well!
Stilton is a classic stinky cheese. And I for one, love a good stinky cheese. I suppose the adjective “strong” is meant to be more appetizing, but I feel like stinky is just more accurate. The strong blue flavors of Stilton get mellowed as the cheese cooks and blends with the eggs, cream, and leeks in this tart, but it still is present and delicious in the end. We served this with a bright salad of mixed greens, spinach, sliced green onions, and tarragon. Any herby, fresh salad would do. If you are a stinky cheese fan, you’ll love this tart too!
Stilton and Leek Tart
Makes 4-6 servings
Note: Plan ahead, this recipe includes rest time of about 1 hour combined for the pastry shell before parbaking, and then baking the tart
For the pastry
7 ½ oz (210g) all-purpose flour
4 oz (115g ) cold, unsalted butter, diced
3-4 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
3-4 medium leeks
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 oz (85g) Stilton cheese, or other strong blue cheese
1 medium egg, plus 1 medium egg yolk
4 fl oz (120 ml) heavy cream
Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Make the pastry: Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the cold diced butter and rub it into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form. Or place flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse 4-5 times to create coarse crumb texture and transfer to a bowl.
Using a fork, stir in cold water one tablespoon at a time until you can form a rough dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just enough to bring it together into a smooth ball. Shape into a disc ¾ inch (2 cm) thick and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry dough into an evenly thick round about 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter, large enough to line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch (23cm) tart pan (preferably with lift out base). Drape the dough over the tart pan and press into the corners and sides, trim off any overhanging dough. Prick the base a few times with the tines of a fork, line with parchment paper, and fill with baking weights or dried beans. Chill for another 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Blind bake the pastry shell for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and weights, and set the pastry shell aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C).
4. Make the filling: Cut the leeks lengthways in half and rinse thoroughly. Remove any dark green leaves. Thinly slice the white and light green parts. Warm the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute for 4-5 minutes, until wilted, then set aside.
5. To a food processor, add the cheese, whole egg, and egg yolk. Process until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the cream. Add the leeks and season with salt and pepper, mix to combine. Pour into the par-baked pastry shell. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from London: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by Sybil Kapoor