You’ll almost always find some form of puff pastry in my freezer, whether it’s uncooked sheets waiting to be used, pre-baked parcels with some kind of meat or cheese and onion filling, or a sweet cheese and jam filled danish. It’s such a versatile, fairly easy to work with dough and can be transformed into a multitude of delicious dishes, both sweet and savory, and one of my favourite ways to use up any rolls I have lying around is as base for this delightfully crisp, rich tart that’s paired with a light, refreshing chive yogurt.
Puff pastry is readily available in just about every grocery store across the world, and rightfully so as it’s used in many if not all cuisines and is a pain to make from scratch. It can also be a bit finicky to work with the first few times as it needs to be thawed appropriately, not handled too much, and baked at a high enough temperature without burning. The first few times I worked with puff pastry, I asked multiple people for tips on how to get a perfect bake and got different (and often opposite) advice from almost everyone – some people swore low and slow is the way to go, others preferred the high heat plus a covering is best, or the big egg wash vs. milk wash debate (I prefer egg wash for savory applications and milk wash for sweet).
The truth is, you can bake puff pastry in a variety of ways, almost always depending on how you want to use it. If you just want to bake the sheets alone, without any filling or topping then you can get away with a lower heat, but in this case when you’re baking the sheet with multiple toppings piled on top you’re going to want to crank the heat to ensure the bottom crisps nicely and all the layers are cooked through. I’ve cooked this tart in multiple different ovens and have had to adjust the temperature for each to get a good rise on the edges of the tart, so feel free to play around with the temperature when baking this at home to get the pastry to your liking.
While the tart itself is a crispy, savory delight, the first few times I made it I found it lacking in something. I had all the salty, earthy flavours down but the tart itself was begging for some kind of sauce to be drizzled over top. I tried a multitude of different sauces – ketchup, spicy mayo, thinned out sour cream, and while each sauce wasn’t terrible, it didn’t add what I wanted it to add to the flavours of the tart.
It wasn’t until I started my balcony garden this year and started experimenting with herbed yogurts that it dawned on me – adding to the allium flavours of the cooked leeks was the link I needed to make the sauce work with the tart. And so I chopped a handful of lush, plentiful chives that had been growing on my small city balcony and blitzed them into the remnants of a greek yogurt container with a little salt, pepper and garlic before thinning the mixture with a dash of water to make the perfect accompaniment to the tart (and a great crudities dip).
This tart, while flavourful, can be paired with any number of entreés due to it’s mild nature. The main flavours come from the lightly carmelized leeks, which coming from the allium family are reminiscent of onions, and the salty feta topping, which is a great contrast against the earthy flavours of the leek and potato. The chive yogurt adds another layer of allium flavour to the dish, this time in it’s raw form – less sweet, more strong and punchy, complementing the sweetened, carmelized leeks perfectly. Thinly sliced potatoes add a starchy element while also giving the tart body, pairing perfectly with the delicate softness of the leeks without taking away from their flavour.
Ingredients:
For the tart:
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed in the fridge overnight
2-3 leeks,(about 4 cups once sliced)
1 yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
4-5 cloves minced garlic
Half a bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
Half a cup of crumbled feta
1 egg, for the eggwash
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
For the chive yogurt:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 small bunch chives, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Method:
Leek, Potato and Feta Tart
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit*.
- Prep the leeks by thinly slicing the whites and lighter parts of the green, about an 1/8th of an inch thick. To wash the leeks, place the sliced leeks in a large bowl of cold water and gently agitate a few times before letting them rise to the top. Your bowl should be big enough to let the leeks sit at the top of the bowl and have the dirt settle at the bottom of the bowl. At this point, you can leave them in the bowl or remove them by scooping them from the top and setting them on a kitchen towel to dry.
- Add 1 tbsp of the oil to a hot pan set over medium heat and add the minced garlic and chilli flakes, saute for about 1 min until very fragrant. Once fragrant, add the leeks. If adding them straight from the water, be careful to avoid any sizzling. Turn the heat up to medium high while sauteing the leeks.
- Cook the leeks thoroughly, at least 10-15 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Add salt at the start of cooking to help break the leeks down. Once cooked, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the leeks have some charred parts and are nicely cooked down (they should be reduced to about a cup), remove them from the pan and set them aside to cool slightly.
- Take your potatoes (skin on or off) and thinly slice them, using either a mandolin or a knife. Set them aside (no need to store them in water as you’ll be using them very soon).
- Unwrap your thawed puff pastry and shallow cut a border about an inch thick around the edge of the pasty. Using a fork, dock the pastry inside the border all over.
- Place the sliced potatoes in a thin layer on the inside of the puff pastry border, and drizzle them with the remaining oil. Lightly salt them.
- Layer the cooked leeks on top of the potatoes and spread them evenly.
- Take the crumbled feta and sprinkle it on top of the leeks.
- Brush the edges of the tart with eggwash and place into the preheated oven. Bake uncovered for about 40-45 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and puffed and the feta is browned. If you find the top and edges are browning too fast, you can cover the tart with foil halfway through and uncover during the last few minutes of baking.
- Let cool slightly before sprinkling the chopped parsley on top and drizzling with the chive yogurt.
*Puff pastry can be finicky to work with, so if you find the pastry is burning too quickly or not rising enough, feel free to adjust the oven temperature by 25 degrees each way without adjusting the cook time.
Chive Yogurt
- Place the greek yogurt, chives, garlic, water and a healthy pinch of salt and pepper into a blender, or a bowl if using an immersion blender and blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a container and store in the fridge until ready to use.
Notes:
- The tart can be made ahead of time and stored for up to three days in the fridge if needed. To reheat, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and heat for about 10-15 mins until warmed through.
- The yogurt will keep in the fridge for up to three days, but should be thoroughly mixed prior to use as some separation might occur.
- It’s crucial to let the puff pastry thaw appropriately as trying to unwrap the pastry while still partially frozen will cause it to break and may result in the pastry not rising properly.
- The leeks will expel a lot of water during cooking, you’ll want to keep sauteing untill all the water evaporates and the leeks get some colour before removing them from the heat.
xx,
girlwhocooks
