Cheese and leek tarts

Hmmm, savoury tarts, love them. This is a great vegetarian recipe - eat them as a snack or as part of a meal. The flavour is very delicate, and you could try using different cheeses. The original recipe, from Nigel Slater, called for a cheese called taleggio, which I hadn't heard of and couldn't find, so I used Cheshire cheese. However, in future I would consider using a mild blue cheese like dolchelatte, or even something strong like parmesan or stilton. I love cheese and pastry so much. From following this recipe I had loads of the filling left over, so although you're supposed to make 12 tarts, you could make many more, or one big pie.

Ingredients
  • 500g of leeks (about three of them)
  • 100g of unsalted butter
  • 100g of Cheshire cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to your taste
  • 375g of puff pastry (either ready rolled or a block)
  • 1 egg
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Cut the roots and tough green stalks off the leeks. Slice the rest thinly. Put the slices in a colander and rinse them thoroughly.
  3. Take a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt the butter in it over a gentle heat.
  4. Add the leeks, still wet from their wash, to the butter.
  5. Cover the pan with a sheet of greaseproof paper. I know! Weird, huh? But I obeyed Nigel, and who knows what might have happened if I didn't. Put the lid on top of the paper, and cook over a low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir now and again, because you don't want the leeks to brown, or the paper to catch fire.
  6. Cut the cheese into little cubes and mix it with the leeks, along with some salt and pepper.
  7. Roll out the pastry (if it isn't rolled already) to about half a centimetre thick.
  8. Cut out 12 discs that are 8cm across. Place half of them on a baking tray (cover the baking tray with some greaseproof paper first).
  9. In a little bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Use the egg to brush the edges of the six pastry circles on your sheet.
  10. Put a dollop of leek mixture in the centre of each pastry circle.
  11. Put the six remaining pastry circles on top of each tart, and press down the edges lightly. Cut two slits in the top of each one.
  12. Brush each tart with the remaining egg and bake for 25 minutes.