A traditional Cheese Tart, or a Tarte au Fromage, is an old favourite. My dad has made it for years, and I absolutely love it, sometimes with a little twist. This time, to cut down the richness a little, I added leek and some of our Carrot Top pesto (well, proto pesto as it doesn't yet have nuts or cheese added). The combo had some zing, and some fresh greenness, and some leeky freshness, as well as all the cheesy richness. I was in a hurry, so I'm afraid that it was a store bought crust, first one in two years, but the tart didn't suffer for it.
Ingredients:
Crust for 1 tart
2 - 2 1/2 c grated cheese (something mature!)
3 eggs
2/3 c cream
2 /3 c milk
Nutmeg, freshly grated
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter
1 leek, sliced
2-3 tbsp carrot tip pesto
1 tomato sliced
Pepper
1) Melt butter in a pan and sauté leek over medium until softened but not browned.
2) Beat together eggs, cream, milk, flour and nutmeg. Line a tart pan with the crust. Spread pesto along the bottom. Layer leeks over the pesto, and spread the cheese over the leeks. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the cheese. Lay tomato slices over the whole. Liberally grind pepper over the top.
3) Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Eminently satisfying as a quick easy supper before a walk in the snow, but this would have worked equally well as a lunch, or alongside soup. I was very happy with how this turned out.