Stuffed Calamari with mango salsa and a berry reduction

Ingredients

100g medium sized calamari tubes, cleaned

250g feta cheese
50ml sweet chilli sauce
½ of a ripe mango
1 tablespoon sushi ginger finely chopped
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon raspberry vinegar

 

For the Berry Reduction

1 pint glass of fresh raspberries
37g caster sugar
½ teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

Method:

Make sure the calamari tubes are cleaned properly, rinse them with a little salt water if needed

In a mixing bowl, mix together the feta cheese and sweet chilli sauce until it is smooth. Place the sweet chilli and feta mixture into a piping bag, and pipe the mix into the calamari. Fill each tube about ¾ of the way full, then using a tooth pick; close the end of the calamari tube. Fill each tube and repeat the process

To make the mango salsa, finely chopped the mango into cubes and place it into a bowl. Finely chop the sushi ginger and add it to the mango along with the honey and raspberry vinegar. Mix all the ingredients together, being careful not to crush the mango, and then cover and place it into the fridge until you need it.

To make the berry reduction, place the berries, sugar and lemon juice into a small saucepan, and place it onto a medium to low heat. Cook the berries until they start to break apart, also making sure all the sugar has dissolved. Blend the reduction and pass through a fine sieve and place it into the fridge to cool.  

To serve the dish, heat up a frying pan with some olive oil, and fry the calamari tubes until they are cooked and golden brown on both sides. Make sure you do not burn the calamari. On each plate, place the a tablespoon of berry reduction in the centre of the plate, then some mixed baby leaf salad on top of the reduction. Then just off centre, put a tablespoon of mango salsa on to the leaves. On top of it all, place 2 to 3 calamari tubes onto each plate. Remove the toothpicks and serve

You can drizzle the calamari and leaves with a little olive oil or lemon oil.

Bon Appétit

Potato Pancakes with Fresh Salmon And Caviar

Ingredients

For the pancakes

1 medium potato, peeled cooked and mashed

1 medium egg

50 g plain flour

50 g potato flour (optional, replace with ordinary flour if unavailable)

½ tsp baking powder

100 ml milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

Vegetable oil for frying 

To serve

400g good quality smoked salmon, sliced

250g crème fraiche

80-100g salmon caviar (keta)

Method

Cool the mashed potato down then put it into a mixing bowl with the egg and both the flours and the baking powder. Whisk to form a smooth paste by adding a little of the milk at a time. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Rub a little oil in a non stick pan, or your favorite pancake pan then gently heat, pour one eighth of the mixture into the pan not letting it spread too much as the pancakes need to be fairly thick. Turn the pancake over with a spatula after a couple of minutes or when it has started to turn a light golden brown. Continue with the rest of the mixture. The pancakes can be put directly onto the serving dish then re-heated when served.

To serve, warm the pancakes in the oven for about 5 minutes. Arrange the smoked salmon on the pancake with a spoonful of crème fraiche on top, then the salmon caviar on the crème fraiche.

Bon Appétit   

Cappuccino Brulee Recipe

Ingredients:

400ml milk

400ml double cream
20g ground coffee
12g instant coffee
120g caster sugar
140g egg yolk

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 100 degrees C ½ fan. 

Bring the milk and cream to the boil.  Remove from the heat and infuse the coffees for 20 minutes.  Whisk the egg yolk and sugar together and the temper the hot infused liquid into the egg mixture.

Pass through a fine sieve, and then pour them into individual ramekins.

Cook in the oven on 100 degrees C with ½ fan for 45-55 minutes in a bain-marie. When set cool them in the chillier.

For the topping

75g smooth pastry cream mixed with 25g whipped cream

To serve pipe the topping onto the cooked Brulee and then sprinkle with demerara sugar and glaze with a blow torch. Dust with cocoa powder and icing sugar to finish. 

Bon Appétit

Crab Pate Recipe

Ingredients:

150g onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
20g of finely chopped red chili
40g ginger finely chopped
200g butter
90ml medium sherry
150ml fish stock
1kg brown crab meat
100g white crab meat
Juice of 1 lemon
100g fresh white breadcrumbs
Salt and cayenne pepper
Clarified butter to serve

Method:

Gently cook the onion, chili, ginger and garlic in butter for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the brown crab meat and sherry and reduce by half, then add the fish stock and reduce by half again. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.

Cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes stirring every so often until it starts to come together. Add the breadcrumbs and remove from the heat. When the ingredients are cold, correct seasoning with lemon juice salt and maybe some chilli sauce for sweetness. Finish the pate with white crab meat and portion into dishes. Allow to cool and finish with layer of clarified butter.

To serve this dish I would recommend toasty some fresh bread, like a baguette. Cut the bread into slices at an angle and toast them under the grill in the oven until golden brown. Drizzle the bread with a little olive oil and sprinkle some on some rock salt.

Bon appétit

Trio Of Rhubarb Recipe

Trio Of Rhubarb Recipe

This recipe in total needs 4 medium sized pieces of rhubarb, with the ends chopped off. Before you can make each part of this dessert, you need to bake the rhubarb in the oven. Cut each piece into 10cm pieces and place them onto a baking tray. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Sprinkle a little caster sugar over the uncooked rhubarb. Bake it in the oven for 15 minutes, b doing this the rhubarb cooks but still keeps its beautiful pink colour, this adds to the visual effects of the dish. Once it has baked, drain off any liquid or syrup and set it aside to cool

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jelly

150ml elderflower cordial

75g caster sugar
4 gelatine leaves
1 10cm piece of cooked rhubarb

Put the elderflower cordial and the sugar into a pot and slowly bring it to the boil, as soon as it has reach boiling point, remove it from the stove. In a separate bowl, place all the gelatine leaves into it, and cover with cold water, allowing the gelatine to soak. Once the cordial and sugar has heated, squeeze and excess water out from the gelatine, and whisk it into the cordial.

Line a bread tin with cling film, this makes removing the set jelly easier. Pour the mix of cordial and gelatine into the tin.

Cut the rhubarb into small cubes or pieces and drop them into the jelly mixture, place it into the fridge and let it set

Rhubarb Tart and Rhubarb Shot

This is done in two separate stages, but they both require the remaining rhubarb to be cooked out a little further and sweetened with some caster sugar. Place all the remaining rhubarb into a non stick pot on a medium to low heat. Generously pour in some caste sugar, there is no exact measurement, because some rhubarb is sweeter or sourer, so it just depends. Let the rhubarb cook on a low heat, all you want is to make it sweeter, so if you need to add more sugar and cook further until you have reached the sweetness you want, and also so that all the sugar has dissolved. Once the rhubarb is cooked and sweet enough, remove it from the stove, and drain off any excess liquid.

Rhubarb Tart

½ a roll of easy roll puff pastry

Cooked out rhubarb

Unroll the pastry onto a floured surface. Cut out square pieces that are roughly 7cm by 7cm and place them onto a lined tray.

 

Note: They do not have to be squares, or that size, it is up to you and how you want the final plate to look

Once you have cut out 10 squares and placed them all onto the lined tray, using a fork, make holes in the centre on each square, you want to allow air to be let out during the baking process. Using a teaspoon, place some cooked rhubarb onto each square, over the fork holes. The idea is, is that the pastry will rise up around the rhubarb when it’s in the oven. Try and not get any excess liquid onto the pastry when you spoon on the rhubarb. Bake the tarts in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 180 degrees C, you want the pastry to have a golden colour, and also make sure the pastry on the bottom of each tart s cooked.

Rhubarb Shot

All the remaining rhubarb

2 single shots of cognac

Pour the cognac over the cooled cooked rhubarb and mix it in well, place it into the fridge and let all the flavours infuse for at least 2 hours. When it is time to serve the whole dish, place the cognac rhubarb into shot glasses, filling each glass about ¾ full. When you serve the dish, whip up some sweetened cream and make a quenelle with two teaspoons.

When I serve this dish, I use some raspberry coulis to decorate the plate, and some edible flowers to garnish each part of the dessert.

Bon Appétit

 

Fish Cake Recipe

 

Ingredients 

1 kg lightly poached white fish like cod or haddock

200g lightly poached smoked haddock or cod
1.2kg dry mashed potato
14ml anchovy essence
30ml Worcestershire sauce
20g English mustard
Chopped parsley
¼ bunch spring onions, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

Mix the mashed potato with half the of the fish, anchovy essence, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and season with salt and pepper.

 

Depending on the consistency of the mix add a little potato powder if necessary. Fold in the remaining fish and mould into 200 g cakes.

 

Bon Appétit

Pistachio Biscotti Recipe

Ingredients:

800g flour
450g caster sugar
40g cornflour
180g blanched pistachios
10g baking powder
250g butter
4 eggs
20ml vanilla essence

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 185ºC full fan

Mix all of the ingredients together on a mixing machine until a smooth paste is formed. Mould the mix into a 10cm wide loaf shape and it put onto a silicone lined baking tray.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes and then leave it to cool.

Slice the loaf into ¼ cm slices and put them onto a clean silicone lined baking tray.  Turn the oven to ½ fan, and return and bake for about 10 minutes until crisp, then turn the slices over and bake again for another 5-7 minutes until the slices of biscotti are crisp.  Cool and store in containers until needed.

Notes:

Biscotti is something that keeps well, if it is kept in a air tight container. The trick with it is, to bake it, cool it, and then pack it away and keep it in a cool dry place.

I have done it before, where I have made a large quantity of the recipe, baked off the loaves, and then instead of cutting them and drying them, I let them cool, and wrap them in cling film really well and freeze them. You can keep them in the freezer for about 3 months before the quality of the ingredients and the finished product is affected by the freezer. If you do freeze a loaf of biscotti, when you need to use it, take it out and let is thaw over night, then slice it and dry it, as you would a loaf that you have freshly baked. Again once you have dried out the slices, pack them into an air tight container, and store it in a cool, dry place until you need it

Bon appétit

Panna Cotta Recipe

Ingredients

3 leaves of gelatin

250ml milk
375ml double cream
50 g caster sugar
¼  lemon, zested
7.5 ml brandy
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped

Method

 

Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water until soft. Bring the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla & lemon zest to the boil,  then remove from the heat and add the gelatin & brandy. Pass through a fine chinois & cool. Pour the mix moulds or even glasses that you could serve the dessert in. Set in the fridge, preferably over night

Dessert like this go really well with fresh seasonal fruits or a berry coulis.

 

The picture above is a panna cotta I made with goats cheese, and I served it with berry coulis, stewed orange segments, fresh basil, and hazelnut biscotti. The dish worked really well and all the ingredients complimented one another.

Macaroon Recipe

Macaroon Recipe

Ingredients

1kg Icing sugar

550g Ground almonds
550g Fresh egg white
150g Caster sugar

Method 

Pre-heat oven to 170ºc

Sieve the icing sugar and ground almond together. Whisk the egg whites and the sugar together. Fold the icing sugar and almonds into the egg whites until well mixed then pipe onto silicone paper.  Sprinkle with nibbed almonds and rest for 1 hour, bake till just coloured.

The macaroons can be sandwiched together with jam, ganache or a flavoured butter cream.

The recipe above is a pretty basic recipe, and you could always add colours with food colouring to your mix to give your macaroons a great colourful look. The colouring should not change the taste of the macaroon at all, and I would recommend adding the colour to your whipped egg white mix before you add it to the almonds. Make sure the egg whites have been whipped prior to you adding the colour

Places to buy macaroons

Ladurée has to be by far the shopping destination if you are as crazy about Macaroons as I am. Recently we took a trip to Paris and stopped in at Ladurée to buy some macaroons to bring home with us. The flavors, choices, and colours are all amazing. There’s licorice, chestnut, strawberry and mint. It is an experience in itself just being in Paris and buying these culinary delights. Nothing compares.

There are a few stores open now in London, and a lot more stores around the world. If you happen to pass one, stop, go inside, and let the experience run away with you

Chocolate Pot, fresh berries and Creme Anglaise pudding

Chocolate Pot Recipe

 

Anything that is made with chocolate catches my attention, this dessert in particular is something special. The rich chocolate, served with classic creme anglaise, and some fresh berries, makes for the perfect end to a great meal

Makes 6

Ingredients

167g Dark chocolate
267g Butter
3.5gYeast
40g Caster sugar
2 Whole eggs
53g Pasteurised egg yolk
33g Strong flour
Zest of 1 orange

Method

Pre-grease and line moulds with silicone paper, line the bases with a disc of soaked chocolate sponge cake.

Melt the chocolate and butter over a water bath and combine well.  DO NOT OVER HEAT.

Dissolve the yeast in a little water and mix it into the melted chocolate with the flour and orange zest. Whisk the whole eggs, yolks and sugar to a sabayon until it has doubled in volume then fold it into the chocolate mix. Fill each mould ¾ of the way full

Bake at 190ºc (full fan) for 9 minutes.

Serve this with some crème anglaise, and if you are a fan of either fresh cherries of seasonal berries, they go so well with this dessert. The mix of warm custard, rich chocolate and fresh berries makes for a balanced and super delicious dessert.

 

Bon Appétit

Candy Beetroot Salad with Feta, Pears, Cucumber and Mint

Beetroot, Pear and Feta Salad Recipe

Ingredients

2 small candy beetroots, washed and sliced very thinly on a mandolin

3 ripe pears, peeled cored and cut into matchsticks
1 lemon
1 small bunch of mint
1/4 cup salted cashew nuts
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup chick peas
1/2 cup of roughly minced feta
1/2 cucumber, peeled skinned & cut into matchsticks

Beetroot is not just that jarred, vinegary, crinkle cut chunks of purple vegetable that you mom tried to force you to eat as a child, but in fact a crunchy and juicy root vegetable. They can be oven roasted and pan fried in chunks, sliced thinly and eaten raw, shallow fried or baked and made into amazing crisps, or put into fresh juices.

Method:

Combine the beetroot, pears and cucumber together in a bowl. Dress them with a good squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil as well as some salt & pepper for seasoning.

Arrange this on a plate then roughly crumble the feta and spread it over evenly, with the fresh mint contrasting the colour.

Sprinkle on some sesame seeds, chick peas and almonds.

Bon Appétit

Smoked Salmon and Celeriac Salad Recipe

Smoked Salmon and Celeriac Salad Recipe

I made this dish the other day for a corporate lunch function, and it was a huge success

This recipe will serve 2 people

Ingredients

160g Oak smoked salmon
50g Mascarpone cheese
80ml Double Cream
2 Sprigs of dill
Juice from half a fresh lemon
1/2 a large Celeriac
50ml fresh honey
Green Oil ( Olive oil mixed with dill and blitzed in a food processor)
Baby Green basil
Baby Purple Basil

Method

Peel or trim the skin off the celeriac, and then cut it into small cubes, roughly 2cm by 2cm. Place the cubes onto a lined baking tray, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and then drizzle the honey over the cubes. The honey doesn't have to completely cover the celeriac, it just has to be enough on each cube, so that when it roasts, each piece will have a honey flavour. Place the tray into an oven at 180 degrees C, and roast for 8minutes, or until the honey starts to caramelise.

In the mean time, make to large roses of salmon, and 4 small roses, equally sized and portioned. Place them in the fridge until you need them.

Take the mascarpone and double cream and place it into a mixing bowl. Chop the dill until it is really fine. Mix the dill in with the cream and cheese mix, and squeeze in the lemon juice. Mix it together until it is well incorporated, taste it, and adjust the seasoning if needed. The mix should be soft enough that you can swipe it across a plate, but firm enough to hold when you swipe it.

To Plate 

Place a large tablespoon of the cream and cheese mix on the left hand side, in the centre, of the plate. Using a clean teaspoon, place the spoon into the mix, and swipe it in any direction across the plate, dragging the mix to create the swipe.

Place 1 large salmon rose and 2 small roses on each plate, spacing them apart. Place the warm roasted celeriac on the plate, about 6-8 cubes per plate.

Garnish the dish with the purple and green basil, and dots of green oil

Bon Appétit

Tiramisu Recipe

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

500g Mascarpone Cheese
5 eggs separated
½ cup castor sugar
pinch Salt
Sponge biscuits, to line dishes
¼ cup strong espresso coffee
4 Tbsp Brandy or Rum
Cocoa Powder

Method:

Beat the mascarpone cheese until it soft. In a Separate bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar (reserving 1 tablespoon) until the mixture is pale, yellow and fluffy. Gradually beat in the softened Mascarpone cheese.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until they reach soft peak. Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture. Line a dish, or even individual glasses with sponge biscuits. Add the reserved sugar to the coffee and stir in brandy

Sprinkle the coffee over biscuits, just to moisten them, you want to avoid making the biscuit to soggy.

Cover with half of the egg mixture, then another layer of biscuits with coffee sprinkled onto them, and then the rest of egg mixture.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Put the dessert into the fridge for one hour to set before serving.

If you want to add more flavour and colour to this dessert, you can do a layer of raspberries or even mixed berries between the cheese mixture and the biscuit mix. It looks great when you serve it in individual glasses.

To garnish you can use some more fresh colourful berries, as well as chocolate shavings. Again this served and garnished in individual glasses looks amazing

Bon Appétit

 

Tuna Nicoise Salad Recipe

Serves 2 people as a starter

Ingredients

50g pitted Kalamata Olives

4 cherry tomatoes, both red and yellow

10 Green Beans

4 new potatoes

4 quail eggs

1 side of fresh tuna

Dill

Olive oil

Baby basil or other micro cress to serve

Rock Salt

Juice of half a lemon

 

Method

 

Slice the new potatoes in half and steam them until they are cooked all the way through, but not so much that they become too soft, rinse them with cold water until they are completely cooled, drain and set aside.

 

Trim the beans. Blanch the green beans until al dente, they should still have their entire colour and be crunchy when they are bitten. Cut each bean in half. Set aside

 

Slice the tomatoes in half and set aside.

 

Take about half a bunch of fresh dill, and place it into a blender, pour in about 100ml of olive oil and blend, you should have a green oil that is easy to pour, like a dressing. If you need to, add more oil, or dill, whichever is needed to get the consistency you would like

 

Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil, and then place the quail eggs inside, boil for 1 minute 30 seconds, then remove the eggs and place them in water that has ice in it, you want to cool the eggs as quickly as possible. To make peeling them easier, add some white vinegar to the water that they are cooling in. Peel the eggs and then cut them in half, length ways.

 

Take the tune and season it with some rock salt, and then pour over a little of the dill oil you have prepared, this is just to give it some extra flavour and colour when you fry it

 

Heat up a griddle pan with a little oil, and when the pan is really hot, add the tuna. Fry the tuna until it has the marks of the pan on it, and then do the same for the other side, You want to keep the tuna a bit pink and rare in the middle, so do not overcook it

 

Now that you have all the components of the dish ready, it’s time to plate them up.

 

Place the green beans in the centre of the plate, then place the tomatoes, olives and egg halves and potatoes around the beans, as well as a few elements on top of the beans to give the dish a bit of ‘lift’. Then take the tuna, and break it with your fingers into chunks. Drizzle the dill oil around the plate and on the ingredients, but remember dill has a very strong flavour so do not be too generous.

 

Bon Appétit

Orange and Chocolate Tart Recipe

 

 

Ingredients

50g orange zest

600g dark chocolate
250g whole eggs
120g pasteurised egg yolk
120g sugar
100ml water
400g soft butter
100ml grand mariner

Method 

Pre heat the oven to 110 C full fan

Have a pre-baked and sealed tart shell.  Melt the chocolate over a water bath and gently mix in the softened butter. Blanch the zest in boiling water, re-fresh and strain. Add the alcohol and zest to the chocolate butter

Whisk the sugar into the eggs and yolks and whisk to a sabayon, the sugar and eggs must have doubled in volume. 

Carefully fold the two mixes together and pour into the tart shell and bake for 15 minutes until just set.  Cool and store the tart in the fridge.  Cut in 12 portions and serve at room temp.

Bon Appétit

Rocket, Pear and Parmesan Salad Recipe

Ingredients

200g Rocket leaves
1 Pear
150g shaved Parmesan

Method

Put the washed rocket leaves into a bowl, and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle on a pinch of rock salt. Toss the leaves in the bowl so that all the leaves get a light coating of the olive oil.

Slice the pear very thinly and place the slices into a bowl of water that has a little lemon juice in it, set aside until you have finished preparing the Parmesan.

With a peeler, 'peel' the cheese to get the Parmesan shavings.

Drain the pear from the lemon water, and place it into the bowl with the rocket, then add the Parmesan cheese. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the salad, and toss everything together.

Bon Appetit

Serves 2 people

 

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

75ml olive oil

1kg ripe tomatoes
3g garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
100g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
100g onions, peeled and roughly chopped
100g leeks, roughly chopped and washed
42.5g tomato puree
1 liter vegetable stock

10g basil

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the tomatoes, garlic and vegetables and roast in a medium oven for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato puree and return to the oven for another 15 – 20 minutes.

Transfer the tomatoes and vegetables to a pan with the stalks from the basil and the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, season and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the basil leaves and remove from the heat. Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth, then strain through a fine meshed sieve. Adjust the seasoning.

A soup like this is so easy to make, and super tasty, and if you wanted to take this dish one step further, you could make your own bread or bread rolls to serve with it. See my bread recipes

Bon Appétit

Chocolate Éclairs Recipe

Ingredients:

1cup water
125g butter
1 cup plain flour, sifted
4 eggs
300ml cream, whipped
150g dark chocolate, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 210’C.

Brush two baking trays with oil.

Combine the water and butter in a small pan. Stir over medium heat until butter melts. Bring to the boil, and then remove the pan from the heat.

Add the sifted flour all at once. Return the pan to the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball around the spoon. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Cool Slightly. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition, until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. 

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain nozzle. Pipe roughly 12-15cm in length onto a prepared tray, leaving room between each one for expansion.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180’c. Bake for another 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Split each éclair, removing any uncooked dough. Fill puffs with cream. Coat the tops liberally with the melted chocolate.

Bon Appétit

Short Crust Pastry Recipe

Ingredients

500g strong flour

5g baking powder
5g salt
250g lard
250ml approx cold water

Method 

Cut the cold lard into small pieces.  Using a mixer on speed number 1, bring the lard, flour, salt and baking powder to a fine breadcrumb texture.  Slowly add the water (you may not need it all) to form a soft dough, do not over mix.  Wrap in Cling Film and store in the fridge until needed.

 

Bon Appetit

Leek and Wild Mushroom Tart

Ingredients

60g butter
500g leeks, cut into a rough 1 cm dice and washed
100ml double cream
50g parmesan cheese, grated
150g wild mushrooms, trimmed and washed
1 egg yolk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200-300g  short crust pastry

Method

 

On a floured table roll out the pastry to ½ cm thick and line 4 tartlet moulds measuring about 8-10 cm x 2-3 cm deep. Rest the pastry in the fridge for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 175°c. Meanwhile melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan, add the leeks and lightly season with salt and pepper then cook over a low heat with a lid on for about 15 minutes stirring every so often. Add the wild mushrooms and continue to cook with the lid on for another 10 minutes. Add the double cream and Parmesan and simmer for a further 6 or 7 minutes. Leave to cool a little then stir in the egg yolk and season again if necessary.

Line the tartlets with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is light golden. Remove the paper and beans and leave to cool a little, and then remove the pastry carefully from the tins.

Fill the tarts with the leek mixture and bake on a tray for 15-20 minutes until golden.

 

You can serve this with a pepper rocket and baby spinach leaf salad.

Bon Appétit