Greek Spinach Leek Pie

My friend Lucy said to me “ being a vegetarian shouldn’t be a side dish”.

More often than not she is confronted with restaurants lacking luster and creativity when it comes to vegetarian food. Glorified side dishes of pasta, risotto, tossed greens or sauteed veggies is all they can muster. Which is disappointing really, as cooking for vegetarians shouldn’t be seen as a curse.

Despite being a carnivore, I am also a vegetarian at heart and dedicated to the pursuit of delicious vegetarian recipes. Here is my take on the Telegraph’s original Greek Spinach & Leek Pie. I removed the dill, forgot the Parmesan (it happens) and added nutmeg.  This is a great dinner party recipe, just serve the pie hot, right out of the oven, when it is at it’s best and the filo pastry, crispy.

RECIPE : ERIKA ALLISTON – Greek Spinach Leek Pie

• 1 kg fresh spinach
• 800 grams leeks (finely chopped)
• 160 grams butter
• 2 garlic cloves
• 500g ricotta (drained)
• 4 large eggs
• 300 grams feta cheese
• 300 grams filo pastry
• grated nutmeg to taste
• Black pepper for seasoning
• Spring-form pan (26cm across)

Fillings:

1. Spinach: wash, dry & destalk. Chop roughly. Boil 2 kettles of water, pour over spinach till covered, let sit until leaves are wilted. Drain well, squeeze out ALL water, set aside.
2. Leeks: Remove the majority of the green part of leeks. Clean by slitting leeks lengthwise so they open like a fan. Finely slice (see photo). Heat 60 g butter on medium/low heat, add leeks, cook on low until soft (approx. 15 mins).  Drain any excess liquid
3. Garlic: chop finely. Heat 20g butter on low heat, add garlic and saute for 1 min. Remove from heat, add spinach. Mix.
4. Cheeses: in a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, feta, nutmeg and black pepper
5. Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°

Assembling the pie:

1. Heat 80 g butter.
2. Brush pan with butter.
3. Pastry trips: cover with a slightly damp tea towel so it doesn’t dry out, become brittle & break. Completely line the bottom and sides of pan with 2/3rds of filo pastry (they can overlap and don’t have to look nice), brushing layers with a little butter as you go.
4. Lay spinach in bottom, then leeks and finally cheese/egg layer.
5. Cover with remaining filo pastry again brushed with butter – work quickly so pastry doesn’t dry out. Tuck sides in and bunch them up if necessary, they will become nice and crispy.
6. Brush top with butter and cook for 50 minutes, till pie is golden. If getting too dark cover with aluminum foil while cooking.
7. Serve immediately, while pastry is still crispy. It will naturally become soft once cooled.

TARTE TATIN

TARTE TATIN: an upside down apple pie – but why?

Rumour has it that French Tatin sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline had a small crisis in the kitchen….The result: a traditional apple tart served upside-down. Whatever the truth, this ranks among one of my favourite desserts – the pastry on top stays golden and crispy, while the apples caramelise below.

We christened my father’s Emile Henry tatin set the last time I was in Provence. This one ceramic dish does everything: first make the caramel directly on the stove top using butter and sugar, add the apple slices, cover with pastry and bake until golden brown. When done, the tarte tatin turns out easily onto the matching plate.

Caramel: Getting the caramel recipe to work can take a little practice, click on the link ‘Tarte Tatin‘ below for more on this and the tarte tatin recipe:

ERIKA ALLISTON: Tarte Tatin Recipe

Pastry:

• 170g white flour
• 80g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten

1. Combine four, salt & sugar
2. Add butter, mix with fingers until looks like bread crumbs
3. Add egg and mix till a smooth ball forms
4. Chill for 30 minutes

Caramel:

• 170g white sugar
• 50g unsalted butter

Filling:

• 6 small cooking apples (ie Russets), peeled & cut into 6es
• 30g white sugar
• 30g unsalted butter

1. On the hob/stove top, melt 170g white sugar
2. When the sugar is JUST melted and a light golden colour, remove from the heat – do this earlier than later as the hot pan will continue to cook the sugar when off the heat!**
3. Add 50g butter, mix till forms a smooth caramel. There is always a little butter that won’t fully mix in.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F
5. Place the apple pieces evenly around the dish.
6. Sprinkle with 30g sugar + place small cubes of butter around the apples
7. Cover with pastry, tuck in the corners
8. Bake for 40 minutes
9. Remove and LET SIT for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a plate

**As we are among friends I will tell you that my 1st attempt at making the caramel was a disaster… I burned the sugar, not removing it from the heat in time. My 2nd attempt was slightly better, I tried adding water to melt the sugar, but it just evaporated. They say 3 times a charm and it was – just watch the heat and remove the golden sugar a few minutes before you think it’s done!

In love with a tart!

CHOCOLATE TART : a great chocolate recipe

Valentine’s Day – whether you are a fan or not, it is always a good excuse to make something sweet. And what could be better than chocolate.

This is an ideal desert as it is simple, can be made in advance, and is sinfully delicious. The slightly sweet pastry has a buttery tender crumb combined with the rich, unctuous chocolate ganache filling, that is not too sweet nor too dark – it is a match made in heaven.

Though I must confess I have stage fright when it comes to making pastry.  This requires summoning up the courage to attack the recipe (yes attack… I am going into battle) who will win is anyone’s guess. But have no fear, here you are safe. This recipe is tried, tested and true.

The pastry tart shells are made in advance after which no more baking is needed. The chocolate ganache is just heated cream poured over chopped chocolate, then spooned into the pastry shells and left to set. For the original recipe using orange zest see The Ulterior Epiqure

See link ‘Chocolate tart‘ below for recipe:

• 190 g all-purpose white flour
• 55 g icing (powdered) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 113 g unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1-2 tablespoon cold water (as required)

Method :

1. Combine flour, icing sugar, & salt. Mix well.
2. Cut butter into small cubes. The butter should be just slightly soft to the touch.
3. Using a mixer on medium/low speed, add butter cubes one by one to flour mixture.  This step can be done by hand.
4. Add egg yolk and 1 tablespoon cold water.
5. Mix on low speed until pastry dough comes together
6. If the pastry is still crumbly, add a little more water

Tart shell making:

1. Pre-heat the oven, 200°C (400°F) convection heat
2. The pastry dough does not need to be chilled.
3. Roll out between two sheets of baking paper until 0.4mm thick. You may need help holding the paper still while rolling the dough.
4. Line each tart tin with the pastry
5. Using a fork prick the bottoms to prevent pastry puffing (weights are not needed)
6. Bake for approx. 12 minutes. until golden
7. Let cool completely while making the chocolate filling.

Ganache – Chocolate Filling :

• 335 g dark chocolate (45% cacao)
• 300 mL liquid whipping (heavy) cream

1. Finely chop the chocolate*
2. Heat the cream till it just boils.
3. Immediately pour over chopped chocolate
4. Using a whisk, mix until smooth
5. Immediately pour into the prepared tart shells
6. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour before serving. If not setting, place in fridge for 2 hours.
7. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Remove at least 30 minutes before serving to let the chocolate come to room temperature.
8. TIP : run your knife under HOT water before cutting the tart.

*the smaller the chocolate pieces the faster they will melt, if the pieces are too large the cream may not be hot enough after a few minutes to melt them all.

Leek & Bacon Tart

LEEK & BACON TART – FLAMMEKUECHE

When I told Olivier I was gong to post this recipe for leek and bacon tart he said, ‘oh the  Flammekueche‘…. ‘Oh the what ??? ‘ Cheeky man throwing out fancy words. But he did peak my intersest and so off I went to find out more. As it turns out the word Flammekueche roughly translates to ‘baked in the flames’ and is a traditional Alsatian dish, made with a thin pizza like bread, covered with crème fraîche, garnished with small bacon slices(lardons) and onions, then baked in the oven.

I happened to have some leeks, a packet of lardons and some puff pastry on hand, not to mention something of an appetite. Now it is all very well and good  to want to make everything yourself, however when it comes to puff pastry, I fear I fold like a cheap deck of cards for the ready-made, store bought variety. Guilty your honour! Futzing around with dough and layers of butter in this summer heat is not my idea of a good time. However if it is yours, do not let me stop you, in fact I take my hat off to you!

This recipes is meals in minutes and is perfect for those nights when you look in the fridge and think ‘what the heck am I going to cook tonight’. You can also cut it into bite-size pieces and serve them as canapés.

Leek & Bacon Flammekueche

• 3 small leeks
• 100g lardons  (bacon cut into small pieces)
• 5 tablespoons full fat cream
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground pepper
• 240g puff pastry

1. Take the pastry out of the fridge and bring to room temperature while preparing the leeks and lardons
2. Cut the leeks half and wash. Then cut into small pieces (see image)
3. In a non-stick skillet (frying pan) on medium heat fry the lardons until just cooked. Set aside keeping the bacon fat in the pan.
4. Put the pan back on the heat and add the leeks, cook until just tender but still a bright green. Remove from the heat. Add the cooked lardons and stir.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (430°F) convection heat.
6. Roll out the pastry, drawing a thin line with the tip of a sharp knife around the edge of the pastry, 1cm from the edge.
7. Evenly spread the cream on the pastry, stopping at the knife line
8. Generously sprinkle with nutmeg and pepper
9. Evenly spread the leeks and lardons over the cream.
10. Cook for 25 minutes.

‘Same Same, But Different’.….This was the slogan written on the shirts my brother brought back from South-East Asia for Olivier’s stag party. Odd that this phrase should pop into my head when cooking but it really does answer the question  ”What is the difference between clafouti and flognard???”

For the purists in this world clafoutis is a desert made with whole cherries and a sweet batter poured over the top.  A clafouti made using any other type of fruit ie) peaches is called a flognard or flaugnarde.

I often make this dish as it is a quick and easy summer desert. If you are pressed for time, don’t bother peeling the peaches or substitute them for red plums! This recipe calls for standard ingredients that you should have on hand, and if you are without cream just use extra milk. A dusting of powdered sugar (icing sugar) adds a nice touch for serving.

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

Summer Peach & Fresh Ginger Flognard (Clarfoti)

• 4 yellow peaches**
• 100 ml milk
• 25 ml cream (you can substitute milk)
• 3 Eggs
• 60 grams (1/4 cup) white sugar
• 35 grams (1/4 cup) white all-purpose flour
• 2cm grated fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons cold butter

1. Prepare the peaches. To easily remove the peach skin, fill two bowls; one with boiling water, one with ice cold water. Cut one peach in half and plunge it into the hot water for one minute then straight into the cold water for one minute. Gently peal back the skin. Cut each half into 4 pieces. Repeat the process with the three other peaches.
2. Prepare the batter. Beat the eggs, then add the milk, cream, ginger & sugar, beat again. Now add the flour and beat. The batter will be very liquid.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F)
4. Grease a non stick tart pan with butter. Pour in the batter and arrange the peaches. Cut the cold butter into 1cm squares and evenly place around the pan. Sprinkle with a little extra white sugar.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and present to your guests immediately while the desert has its greatest volume and air!

**NOTE: this desert can also be made with several other summer fruits such as plums or apricots (NO PEELING required!)

This summer has been busier than normal with all the wedding planning. However, as part of the festivities, my girlfriends got together to organise a surprise hen-weekend (bachelorette) & to my delight, they booked an afternoon cooking course at Scook, the new cooking school of Anne Sophie Pic - 4th generation head chef of the French 3 star Micheline restaurant, Maison Pic.

The course was well planned, orchestrated and adapted to our large group, which included people with different levels of cooking experience. In a modern, luminous kitchen, each student was given an apron, copy of the recipes to be cooked and access to fresh seasonal ingredients. We then worked through the dishes step by step, with the added chef’s perks of being able to eat what we made. This hands on approach, with direct interaction with the chef, left you feeling confident, with a broader knowledge of the culinary arts.

Out of the things we learned that day, there was one idea that I felt would make an excellent base for other dishes. This was the unpuffed puff pastry rounds - a contradictory idea I know, but ever so good. Thus I have borrowed this idea to build the dish above - a sumptuous tower of soft grilled aubergines (eggplant), caramelised tomatoes and fresh goats cheese, with a hint of black olive tapenade & rosemary.

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

{TARTE AUX AUBERGINES et TOMATES CARAMELISES}

Recipe for 4 people

• 1/2 a role of puff pastry
• 1 fresh goats cheese
• 4 small sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tablespoon black olive tapenade

For the tomatoes:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 thick tomato slices (each 1cm)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste

For the aubergines:

• 8 thick round aubergine (eggplant) slices (each 1cm thick)
• salt for sprinkling

NOTE: to make this recipe aesthetically pleasing, choose three tomatoes & one aubergine of approximately the same diameter – your vegetable towers will appear more even.

1. First prepare the pastry rounds: Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Removed pastry from the fridge 5 minutes before using. With a glass or circular cutter, approx. 1cm LARGER in diameter than your tomatoes (ie tomatoes 5 cm diameter, use cutter 6cm diameter, to produce a nice tart boarder) cut out 4 pastry circles and place on the baking sheet.
2. Place a 2nd piece of baking paper on top of the pastry rounds and then a 2nd baking sheet.
3. Cook pastry at 180°C (convection heat) for 10 minutes or until golden on both sides
4. Now for the tomatoes: Cut into 1cm thick rounds. Use 1 tbls olive oil to grease the centre of a small baking tray, place the tomatoes on top,  sprinkle with 1 tbls olive oil, then oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Cook tomatoes for 10 minutes at 180°C , then 20 minutes at 150°C (convection heat) until all the water has evaporated and the tomatoes are caramelised.
6. Now for the aubergines: Starting from the thick end, cut 1cm thick rounds & set on a plate. Sprinkle with salt. Wait 5 minutes and then blot water with paper towel. Repeat on the other side.
7. Heat a large frying pan (medium/high heat) with 3 tbls olive oil – making sure the surface of the pan is evenly covered. Cook the aubergines on one side until soft & golden brown, then repeat with 3 tbls olive oil on the other.
8. Place on sheets of paper-towel to remove oil.
9. Cut the goats cheese into 4 even rounds & set aside.
10. Preheat your grill to 190°C with the wrack not too close to the top of the oven.
11. Creating the towers: On a new lined baking sheet place the 4 flat pastry rounds. For each pastry round, spread a thin circle of olive tapenade in the centre, then add 1 of the largest aubergine slices, followed by 1 of the largest tomato slices. Repeat in decreasing slice size. Finish with a slice of goats cheese, sprinkled with olive oil, pepper, and topped with a sprig of rosemary.
12. Place the towers in the oven to grill for 2 minutes.

{TARTELETTES AUX PRUNEAUX ET CANNELLE} I know I know, I promised more savoury & less sweetie recepes - but little purple plums are TAKING OVER MY KITCHEN!!! Everywhere I look there is a bowl, box or plate of them. Why you might ask – well it just so happens that Olivier’s parents have plum trees at their country house in France…. and as they cannot keep up with them, the torch has been passed! Something had to be done….

As I have already made ‘PLUM, GREEN GAGE & CINNAMON JAM’ (soon to be posted on the SP blog) I thought I would turn my attention to tart making… before the plums turn or the season passes! And seeing as the cinnamon was a nice added touch to the plum jam, I decided to make a sweet cinnamon pastry crust for this recipe.

RECIPE – SWEET PEA BLOG

CINNAMON PASTRY

• 200g white flour
• 100g unsalted butter
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt

1. Remove the butter from the fridge, cut into small cubes and bring to room temperature.
2. In an electric mixer, combine the flour, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, white sugar and salt. (NOTE: if you are using liquid vanilla extract add this with the egg at the end.) 
3. Now add the butter and mix well until you have a breadcrumb consistency.
4. Beat the egg separately then add to the flour mixture. At this point I often use my hands, to work the dough until it forms a smooth, uniform ball. Cover with plastic warp and place in the fridge for 20 mins to half an hour.

PLUMS & TART MAKING

• 14 slightly firm damson plums (approx. 430g)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damson
• 6 teaspoons of finely ground almonds
• for decoration:
• 1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
2. REMOVE the cinnamon pastry from the fridge, so it will be easier to roll. Wash the plums & cut each one in half and then half again and set aside.
3. Roll out the pastry dough till approx. 2-3mm thick and line each tart tin –  I normally make either 8 tratlets or 1 large tart. Using a fork prick the bottom of each tart and then placing them on a cookie sheet pre-bake for 6 minutes.
4. Remove the tartlets from the oven and dust the bottom of each with 1 teaspoon of ground almonds.
5.  Arrange the plums in each tart so that they are sitting next to each other on their sides and then sprinkle with a few chopped pistachio nuts.
6. Bake for 40 minutes and immediately sprinkle with a little white sugar when removed from the oven.

NOTE: I use slightly firm plums as the overly ripe variety produce more juice and can leave you with a runny tart. The ground almonds will help to absorb some of the plum juice and avoid a soggy pastry.

{QUICHE A LA MOUTARD ET EPINARDS} The word ‘quiche‘ comes from the German word ‘Küchen’ meaning cake and started as an open pie made with bread dough and an egg, cream and bacon filling (the cheese came later!) It originated in the medieval German kingdom of Lothringen, later conquered by the French and renamed Lorraine – hence quiche Lorraine.

As fate would have it, my inspiration to adapt this traditional French / German recipe came when I was invited to lunch at Laura’s mother’s house in Surrey…. Wendy served a delicious warm tomato quiche, but what left a lasting impression was the mustard and cream layer that she added. With this tangy taste still fresh in my mouth (or shall I say mind) and spinach being one of my preferred vegetables of choice, my traditional childhood quiche was about to have a makeover!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

STEP ONE : Pastry

• 110g COLD unsalted butter
• 200g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• approx. 15ml (1 tablespoon) cold water

Cut the cold unsalted butter into small cubes. In a mixing bow add the flour, pinch of salt and then butter. With a fork work the butter into the flour. Then use your finger tips crumble the flour and butter together (it should end up looking a little like bread crumbs!) Finally add the water, incorporating it well to make a smooth pastry. Form the pastry into a flattened ball and place in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes. (HELP: if the pastry seem crumbly & won’t stick together – do not cry & swear you will never make pastry again, just add a little more water & it should work)

STEP TWO: Mustard cream layer

• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I use 2 tablespoons smooth mustard  & 1 tablespoon grainy mustard)
• 2 tablespoons thick cream

In a small dish combine the mustard and the cream and set aside.

STEP THREE: Egg & spinach filing

• 250g fresh LARGE leaf spinach (well washed – no cheating or you will have crunchy sand in your quiche
• 7 eggs
• 2dl (200ml) milk
• 1.5dl (150ml) thick cream
• 200g finely grated gruyère or comté cheese 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt & pepper to taste (I put little salt as the cheese is already salty & lots of mixed pepper )

Preheat the oven to 180°F (350°C). 

The spinach

1. Wash well and remove the stalks.
2. In a kettle boil 1L of water.
3. In a large saucepan WILT the spinach by pour the boiling water over it until submerged and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
4. Strain the spinach in a caulender removing as much water as possible. To further dry the spinach, drape each individual spinach leaf over the side of the caulender (you can layer the leaves), set in the sink while you prepare the pastry crust - this may sound crazy but it works very well and avoids a soggy quiche!

The pastry crust  

1. IMPORTANT you will need a 25cm bottom pie dish
2. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge 5-10 mintues before using.
3. Roll out the dough on a large piece of cooking paper until approximately 4-5mm thick then place pastry with paper into the pie dish. Press in the pastry, make sure the edges are neat all around. Trim the cooking paper. Prick the bottom and sides of the pastry with a fork.
4. To pre-cook the pastry evenly, place another large sheet of cooking paper over the pastry and pour on either several cups of uncooked rice or dried apricot pits (see NOTES below) to weight the paper down. Then place in the oven to cook for 10 minutes.
5. REMOVE pastry crust from the oven!!! Now add the mustard cream mixture to create a thin, even layer on the bottom of the crust.
6. Place in oven again and cook for 3 minutes (this is necessary to slightly solidify the cream)

The egg filling

1. Combine the eggs, milk, 1.5dl thick cream, nutmeg, salt & pepper. Beat well until light and frothy.
2. REMOVE the pastry crust with mustard cream from the oven. Starting with the spinach, place alternating layers of flattened spinach leaves, egg filling and then grated cheese into the pastry crust.
3. Finish by topping the quiche with the left over grated cheese. COOK FOR 30 MINUTES.

NOTES : APRICOT PITS : a trick that Olivier’s mom taught us was to wash and dry the apricot pits we had in the summer. Once they are fully dry store them in a metal box and use as weights to pre-cook pastry. An inexpensive and effective method.