Braised Leeks and Bacon in a Tart

Another tasty bite from what has turned out to be one of my favorite cookbooks, Molly Stevens’ All About Braising. I had one more commercial pie crust to use up, and I’ve had such success with recipes from this book, that I decided to give this one a try. I was not disappointed, and
(gasp!) I am not really a fan of gruyere. Master Chow enjoyed both the goat cheese tart and this one, but preferred the bite and depth of flavor that the gruyere and leeks gave the latter.

I did not alter this recipe, and as I’ve blogged about several dishes in Molly Stevens’ book, I won’t do so again. I urge folks to check it out from the library or buy it for yourselves. (Disclaimer: if you click on Amazon through this website, I get a small percentage of the sale. And I get paid in gift certificates, which I promptly apply to more cookbooks. It is a vicious cycle.).

To summarize, though: I braised the leeks with butter, salt and pepper, garlic, nutmeg, fresh thyme, stock, lemon and thick-cut bacon. I then chopped and combined the leek-bacon mixture with Gruyere, eggs, creme fraiche, half-and-half, fresh thyme, more nutmeg, and salt and pepper. I spread the leaks on the bottom of the pie crust, and poured the egg mixture over it. Popped it in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes, and then devoured it.

Yum. Next time, though, I might try this with Emmental instead of Gruyere.