A silky leek pie and crunchy, soft-textured biscuits to lift the spirits
rom now until early spring, leeks will have a permanent presence in this kitchen, fat green and white alliums to blend with potatoes for soup or simmered in chicken and barley stews. They will be mashed into purées for pasta and fried for filling a baked potato. Cooked slowly and softened without colour, they will fill open-faced tarts of goat’s cheese or bacon.
The first fat leeks of the year went into a pie this week, cooked until silky, their flesh seasoned with grated parmesan, then wrapped in pastry and baked. Another time, I might be tempted to add chopped leaves of tarragon or a smattering of blue cheese, a spoonful of mustard or a dusting of smoked paprika. On this occasion, it was simply leeks and cheese, a partnership that ticks every box for me. Remove and discard the roots and very darkest green tips of the leeks.
Sprinkle the flour over, stir, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche and grated parmesan, then set aside. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6 and place an empty baking sheet in the oven.Lightly oil a 23cm cake tin, place it on the lined baking sheet, then place the pastry over it, pushing it gently down into the corners and leaving the overhanging pastry in place. If you are taking the freeform route simply lay the pastry on the lined baking sheet.
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