Leek and cheese filo tart
This creamy, cheesy leek tart is total comfort food. It's generous enough for lunch without the optional extras, but for a hearty dinner serve with jacket potatoes and peas.
Ingredients
- 1½ tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 4 sheets filo pastry, roughly half a pack
- 100g/3½oz mature cheddar, finely grated
- 5 tbsp single cream
- 1 large leek, trimmed and very thinly sliced
- salt and black pepper
To serve (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Lightly oil a 20cm/8in square cake tin with a removable base.
If using, rub the potatoes with a thin layer of oil, and sprinkle with salt. Prick them all over with a fork and bake in the oven for 45–55 minutes, or until tender when gently squeezed.
Meanwhile, make the tart. One at a time, lightly brush a filo pastry sheet with a little of the oil and place in the tin, pressing gently into the base and up the sides of the tin. Arrange the next lightly oiled pastry sheet at right angles to the first. Repeat with two more layers, leaving a flat base and frilly edges.
Mix the cheese with the cream to make a soft paste. Drop teaspoonfuls of the paste over the pastry case and spread lightly with the back of a spoon, taking care not to tear the pastry.
Top the cheese mixture with the sliced leek and season with a little black pepper. If the pastry edges hang over the tin too much (this will depend on the size of the sheets), roll loosely back towards the filling. Bake the tart for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown and the leeks are softened. Remove from the oven to cool slightly.
If using, cook the peas according to the packet instructions, then drain. Serve a slice of tart just as it is, or with a jacket potato and the peas alongside.
Recipe Tips
If you don't have a square dish, you can use whatever small roasting tin or round cake tin you have. If you don't have a pastry brush, you can drizzle the oil over the pastry and gently brush it across with your fingers.
In November 2023 this recipe was costed at an average of £4.49 (without peas and potatoes) when checking prices at three UK supermarkets. This recipe is designed to be made in conjunction with a low-cost store-cupboard, for more details click here to see how our budget recipes were costed.
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