Goat's Cheese and Leek Tart

For my last birthday Mr Ladybird gave me the Bourke Street Bakery (BSB) cookbook... lucky me! :). This is no ordinary cookbook.. as it says on the cover it really is the ultimate baking companion.

It contains recipes for exactly the kind of beautiful baked goods you'd expect from BSB, perhaps Sydney's most iconic bakery. Bread, croissants, tarts, cakes... endless baked goodness.. Mmmm :) The recipes are very detailed, and contain lots of tips and step by step instructions, with lots of pictures to guide you along the way.

My most recent creation from the book was this delicious savoury tart.. and here is the recipe for you all to try. I haven't included the shortcrust pastry recipe as it is somewhat involved and very long (perhaps another blog post in its own right). However, you could use a simple shortcrust pastry recipe instead, no problems.

Goat's Cheese and Leek Tart
1 quantity savoury shortcrust pastry
35g butter
1 large leek (about 200g), white part only, washed and finely sliced
80ml (1/3 c) white wine
300 ml pouring (i.e pure) cream (35% fat)
300g soft goat's cheese
4 eggs
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celcius. Roll out the pastry and use it to line the base and sides of eight 10cm, fluted, loose-based tart tins. Place in the refrigerator.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the leek for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the wine, swish it around, and allow it to evaporate completely. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and crumble the goat's cheese into it, stirring continuously until the cheese has completely dissolved and the cream thickens. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Putt the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and mix for about 3 minutes on high spped, or until light and fluffy. Add the cream micture, thyme, salt and pepper, and continue mixing on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine.
5. Put the pastry shells on a baking tray lined with baking paper and scatter the cooled leeks into the shells. Pour over the cream mixture to fill each tart.
6. Carefully slide the tray onto the middle shelf of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 180 degree celcius and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden.
7. Remove from the oven and cool a little before serving.

I served the tarts with a simple rocket and pear salad. This salad went really well with the tarts and offset the strong flavours of the goat's cheese and leek. To make this salad combine fresh, washed rocket with a little finely slinely sliced, firm Packham pear. Yum :) Dress with a quick balsamic dressing like this one:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

soft brown sugar, to taste (I used 3/4 tsp)

Combine ingredients in a small, screwtop jar and shake in your best maraca shaking style :)

Although I am fortunate to live close to Bourke Street Bakery, there is a very special satisfaction from making your own tarts from scratch... Oh so delicious and very rewarding :)

Ladybird x