I actually do not know where to begin with this recipe, yes it is a little more complicated than the Chicken cooked in Coconut Milk but trust me, it is so worth it, it is truly heaven on a plate. What could be nicer than old friends like leek and potato being complimented with goats cheese, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The weather on Friday evening was a lot nicer and Hubby and I got to enjoy this yummy dinner not only sat outside in the last of the evening sun but enjoying a glass of bubbly given to us by our lovely Son Olly and also with salad that had been freshly picked from our garden, I know I am biased, but it truly did taste so much better than shop brought bags of salad.
Tarte Tatin is basically and upside down pie, the reason for doing this is the magic of caramelisation that happens at the bottom of the dish, the butter and honey do wonderful things together whilst cooking and you end up with beautifully glazed leeks. We all know that leek and potatoes are a match made in heaven but add some goats cheese and this delicious nutty pastry and you have a dish that I have to say has to be one of the nicest things that I have ever made and eaten.
The recipe says to use, ¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour and ¾ cup whole wheat flour, I decided to use all wholemeal spelt flour and I am so pleased that I did, it was delicious and so filling.
The flavours come together on the plate and you will not feel bereft that there is no meat, very often when I do a vegetarian dish someone will say that it needed chicken, or pork, or whatever, this is one of those meals that is complete just by itself, perfect just as it is.
I hope you enjoy my photo of my homegrown salad, as usual all my photo’s were take on my iPhone, but you can see just how sunny it was on Friday in the salad photo, proof that it doesn’t always rain !!!
Buon appetito
Makes 1- 10” round tarte tatin
For the tart filling:
3-4 leeks
4- 6 small red potatoes or yellow wax potatoes thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 glug extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black epper to taste
For the dough:
¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2-3 thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon salt
4 oz unsalted butter, cold and cut into small squares.
4 to 6 tablespoons iced water
For the garnish:
Lots of Goats Cheese
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh Thyme
Salt and freshly ground black epper
How to make the pastry:
Measure all your ingredients, and place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Place bowl in the freezer. Meantime cut your cold butter, and iced water ready to measure. Remove the bowl of dry ingredients from freezer and add the butter. Add the thyme. With a pastry Blender incorporate the butter and flour until the mixture resembles to a coarse meal, and the butter pieces are small like the size of a pea. Slowly add the cold water and carefully with your hands form a dough that just holds together. Do not over work the dough. Once that the dough barely holds together cut a piece of plastic wrap and place your dough. Wrap it and shape it into a disk. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or 15-20 minutes on the freezer. If you plan ahead you can make the dough the night before.
Assembling the tarte:
In a 9-10” sauté pan/skillet with rounded edges, melt 4 tablespoons of butter, add a glug of extra virgin olive oil, drizzle the honey, sprinkle the sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Place an even and tight layer of leeks, and top this with a layer of the thinly slices of potato. (The original recipe didn’t state where to add the lemon zest, so I sprinkled it over the leeks, you could just leave it out).
Sprinkle some salt and pepper.
Once your dough is chilled, roll it out into a 10” circle 1/4” inch thick.
Cover the inside of the pan/skillet with the dough, and tuck in the edges.
With a small pairing knife make 4 incisions.
Bake at 425F/ 220C for about 25-30 minutes on the first 1/3 of the oven rack. until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven, and cool the tarte tine for about 10-15 minutes.
With the help of a round plater, cover the pan/skillet and wrap it with a kitchen towel. Flip.
Don’t hesitate here, just go for it and serve with a nice fresh salad of your choice.
Note : Please excuse my funny shaped tarte tatin, my dish was broken and I had to make do with this one, next time I will make sure I have enough leeks to use my Le Crueset pan 🙁
Comments (0)