Leek tart with carrot salad and honey-orange dressing

I've just made this yummy tart for lunch today - it's a variation on my popular feta and courgette quiche and it works just as well as that one does. A carrot salad goes especially well with it, dressed with orange juice, honey and mustard. Don't be tempted to leave out the toasted almonds - they really make the dish.

By the way, I make no apologies for making pastry in my food processor these days - it's so much quicker than rubbing in the butter by hand, and the end result is just as good. But of course you could make it the traditional way if you prefer.

Leek tart with carrot salad and honey-orange dressing

75g walnuts 
half a tsp rosemary leaves
225g plain flour
110g cold butter (chopped into cubes) 
1 red onion, chopped
small red chilli, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
6 baby leeks
4 medium eggs 
250ml milk
1 tbsp dijon mustard
100g feta, chopped (I used Sainsbury's reduced-fat feta)

For the salad:
6 carrots
juice of 2 oranges
olive oil
juice of a lemon
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
half tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp runny honey
50g toasted flaked almonds


Whizz the walnuts with the rosemary leaves, flour and butter in a food processor until very finely chopped, then add a good pinch of salt. Whizz to combine, then add 3 tbsp cold water. Pulse until just coming to a nice dough (add more water if it still seems too dry and crumbly, but don’t make it sticky). Chill for an hour before rolling out and lining a tart case (ideally a loose-bottomed one). Bake blind at 190C (fan) for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, fry the onion, garlic, chilli and leeks until soft. Beat the eggs and milk together with the mustard and plenty of seasoning, then remove the leeks from the onion mixture and set aside. 

Spread the onion mixture over the base of the pastry case, pour over the eggs and milk then arrange the baby leeks on top. Put on a baking tray and bake for 20 mins until the filling is just set. Serve warm rather then straight from the oven.

For the salad, pare the carrots into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Heat the orange juice in a small pan and simmer until reduced by half. By eye, pour in roughly the same amount of olive oil, then add the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and honey and season well. Whisk together, then dress the salad just before serving and sprinkle over the almonds.

Serves 6

A COOK’S PLOT TIP: Although I've suggested baking the pastry blind, I actually find that if you use a large rectangular tin rather than a round one, you don't need to mess about with baking parchment and baking beans - just put the pastry case into the oven and 20 mins later it will be tinged with gold and ready to fill, with no sign of the centre of the base rising up as it cooks (which is what you usually need the baking beans to prevent). I've got no idea why a rectangular tin doesn't have this problem, but it's got to be something to do with the shape.

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