I love recipe books. There is something about the pictures of yummy food, and the exciting range of dishes that you can make which I just really like. However, I also very rarely use them. I could quite easily collect recipe books that I flick through, but never follow, usually because I haven’t planned ahead and don’t have the right ingredients or because I decide it will take too much time. But they are still great for inspiration, and you can quite easily adapt recipes to your taste. For example, recently my boyfriend bought a vegetarian recipe book only to decide that they would all be so much better if they contained meat… However as he isn’t a vegetarian he can add as much meat as he likes!
We adapted a vegetarian recipe containing goat’s cheese (which neither of us like) to cheesy leek and bacon tartlets.
Fresh out of the oven!
Ingredients
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
40g butter
350g leeks (chopped up)
Dried oregano to taste
2 rashers of unsmoked bacon cut into small pieces
100g cheese (of your choice – we used cheddar)
Milk, for brushing
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Cut the pastry into six 12cm squares.
- Place the pastry squares on a baking sheet and use the tip of a sharp knife to score each one about 1cm from the edge all the way around.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the leeks and fry gently, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add the bacon, and continue frying. Add the oregano, salt and pepper to season to taste. Divide the leek mixture between the pastry squares, placing it inside the scored lines.
- Top each tartlet with cheese and brush the pastry with milk. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Serve warm.
We enjoyed the tartlets with spiced potato wedges and salad. Leftovers are great cold for lunch the next day. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from “Leek and Goat’s Cheese Tartlets”, found in 150 Vegetarian Recipes by LOVE FOOD, published by Parragon Books.
