Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart

Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart is one of those dishes that looks really impressive, tastes amazing and is a great one to add to your woodfired repertoire. The puff pastry gets some fantastic bottom heat so is crispy and light, not a soggy bottom in sight…! You can ring the changes with the toppings – roast peppers are delicious, slow cooked onions also.

Try adding meat or fish and maybe a sweet version – we do one with pears and almonds. Check out the video in this week’s #woodfiredweekly and here’s how we made it –

Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart – Ingredients

1 ready rolled sheet puff pastry

2 medium leeks, finely sliced and washed

100g chestnut mushrooms, chopped

150g blue cheese, crumbled – we used Shropshire Blue but you can try any you have to hand

1tbsp sunflower oil

30g butter

30g flour

200ml milk

1dssp grain mustard

1tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart – Oven state, equipment etc

3 Mississippi

Door – off when making the sauce and shut but ajar when baking the tart

Heat deflector is very handy to prevent side scorching on the tart

Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart – Method

1. Heat the butter in a saucepan in the oven and cook the washed, sliced leeks slowly until well softened with the lid on.

2. Stir in the flour and the mustard and season well. Put the pan back in the oven and leave for about a minute to start cooking out the floury flavour. Bring the embers to the centre of the oven to get some bottom heat for the pan. Stir in the milk and bring to the boil on top of the embers. Simmer gently in the oven for about 3 minutes, stirring from time to time until the sauce is very thick. Stir in the chopped parsley.

3. Mix the mushrooms with the sunflower oil and cook the mushrooms in the oven until they have released their liquid and are completely tender. Drain the mushrooms through a sieve and then stir into the leek sauce with half the cheese.

4. Unroll the pastry and prick with a sharp knife. Cut diagonally into the corners about 1cm and then fold in the pastry at the edges to make a rim.

5. Spread the leek and mushroom sauce on the pastry base and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.

6. If you have a heat deflector, use it to push the embers to one side of the oven to stop the sides of the tart scorching. Use a peel to put the tart in the oven with the oven at about 250C and bake for about 15-20 minutes, turning around from time to time to get an even bake with the door shut once the embers have burnt down.

7. When the pastry is risen, golden brown and crispy and the topping is bubbling and the cheese has melted, take the tart out and let it cook for 10 minutes before cutting.

8. Serve warm with new potatoes and a green salad or serve cold as part of a picnic.

Woodfired Leek, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Tart – Alternatives

Use different blue cheeses for different flavours – roquefort is salty, dolcelatte is creamy, Stilton is rich

Stir in some bacon lardons with the leeks as they are cooking.

Stir in some shredded cooked chicken and some chopped fresh tarragon with the cooked mushrooms and leave out the cheese.

Replace the leeks and mushrooms with slow cooked onions and red peppers. Omit the cheese but top with fresh mackerel fillets – (delicious and from our Woodfired Fish & Seafood!)

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