Leek Tart

Ingredients :

• 2½ cups plain flour
• 150g butter, chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp water
  Filling :
• 30g butter
• 2 rashers bacon, finely chopped
• 4 leeks, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup plain flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 tspn ground black pepper
• beaten egg, for glaze
• herbs, to garnish

  Preparation and Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 210°C. Brush a shallow 23cm round fluted flan tin with melted butter or oil.
2. To make pastry : Place flour and butter into food processor bowl. Using the pulse action press button for 30 seconds or until mixture has a fine crumbly texture. Add lemon juice and almost all the water, process 30 seconds until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
3. To make filling : Heat butter in a medium pan, add bacon, cook until crisp. Add leeks, cook for 5 minutes or until leeks are soft. Stir through vinegar and flour. Remove from heat. Add milk gradually, stir until smooth. Return to heat, stir until sauce boils and thickens. Allow to cool slightly. Stir in eggs, cheese and pepper.
4. Roll ¾ or less of pastry to line flan tin. Spoon filling over pastry base. Roll out the remaining pastry to cover top of pie. Trim ands decorate edges, glaze with beaten egg. Cut three deep slits in pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp.
5. To serve, cut into wedges and garnish with fresh herbs.
6. Cooks notes : Leeks have a mild onion flavor and when cooked slowly in butter, a creamy texture. The white part of the leek is the most tender, but you can use about 5cm of the green. Above that the green part is too fibrous. Leeks require thorough washing before using. Slit into the fleshy parts and shred almost to the base. This loosens the layers so that soil can be easily removed when rinsed under a tap.