Spring

Leek Tart with Ricotta and Pea Puree

by:
May 11, 2011
4
1 Ratings
Leek Tart with Ricotta and Pea Puree
  • Serves 4 Large, 6 Small
Author Notes

This tart was inspired by Suzanne Goin's tarts in Sunday Suppers at Lucques, with my own springtime variations. The tart is a layering of puff pastry, pea puree and whipped ricotta, topped with sauteed leeks. It is easy to make, and the components can be made in advance. Using frozen puff pasty makes this an easy weeknight recipe, but feel free to make your own! - HollowLeg —HollowLeg

Test Kitchen Notes

With a lovely puff pastry crust, this tart is simple, delicious and quite lovely aesthetically -- it has multiple colored layers. The peas, ricotta and leeks play well with each other. I used 2 teaspoons of thyme and Pepperidge Farm pastry; one whole sheet as it would have been too small if I had cut it in half. I also recommend finding very small leeks and sauteeing them until they are quite tender, otherwise, they were a tad hard to cut. This will certainly be on my Spring brunch menu for years to come. Beautiful AND tasty! - thehappycook —Victoria Ross

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/2 sheet frozen puff pastry
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3 leeks
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 cups peas
  • 2 tablespoons creme fraiche
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 16 oz. container ricotta, drained of excess liquid
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • kosher salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Prepare the Puff Pastry: Defrost the puff pastry, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Score a ¼ inch border around the edge. Make an egg wash by whisking together one egg yolk and a tsp of water, and brush the border. Reserve the egg wash and freeze the pastry until ready to assemble.
  3. Prepare the Leeks: Remove the dark green parts of the leek and the toughest outer layer. Trim off the root hairs while keeping the root intact. Slice the leek in half lengthwise, and rinse thoughouly with water. Slice the leeks again in half lengthwise, still keeping the root intact. Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the leeks in one single layer. Season with about ½ tsp of kosher salt. Brown the leeks for a few minutes, and flip when they begin to brown. When leeks are lightly browned and softened (about 10 minutes total), remove the leeks onto a plate and reserve.
  4. Prepare the Pea Puree: In a food processor, blend the peas and crème fraiche into a smooth puree. Add the lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste. Reserve.
  5. Prepare the Ricotta: In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta with the leftover egg wash and the extra egg yolk. Whisk well so that the mixture will be easy to spread. Add about ½ tsp of freshly ground black pepper, ½ tsp salt, and 2 tsp fresh thyme, or to taste.
  6. Finish the Tart: Spread the layer of pea puree onto the tart, staying within the ¼ inch border. Spread the ricotta on top (you will probably not use all of this so save it for the other half of the puff pastry sheet!). Layer the leeks on top of the ricotta. Bake for about 20 minutes, and enjoy!
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6 Reviews

mccsquared
mccsquared April 3, 2016
This is an excellent recipe but for sure some of the ratios are off. Cut the leeks up per other comments, they are beautiful but too hard to deal with otherwise. If you are using pepperidge farm pastry sheets, either use both sheets that come in a package or cut the amount of peas down slightly and cut the amount of ricotta in half or even 1/3 of the package - I am always left with way too much, even after piling it on. Fun tip for leftovers: pea puree, make a "green goddess" dressing and toss with greens and parmesan. Ricotta mix, make leftover white pizza the next day with pizza dough, roasted garlic, spinach
 
Dana M.
Dana M. December 16, 2012
I made this for a potluck last night and have one major suggestion, cut the leeks up! They look awesome when kept long but it's almost impossible to cut them into pieces and the tart got sort of destroyed. And it's really hard to eat when they are hole because the leeks are so stringy that they are hard to chomp on.
I also cooked the leeks in some olive oil and garlic (and then added water to let them simmer) beforehand to soften them up.
Otherwise a great recipe, I'd just make those tweaks next time.
 
HollowLeg
HollowLeg May 20, 2011
Thanks Happy Cook for the testing notes! I used the whole foods brand of puff pastry which was quite large, so could just use half of it. I agree about the thyme and the leeks - the leeks need to have all of the outer layers peeled off otherwise they are quite stringy. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice May 12, 2011
This looks seriously tasty. I have recently discovered that I love pea puree - I used to think I just liked them in their whole form, but no more, now I'm a convert. This looks like a splendid way to put puree to use.
 
Helen's A.
Helen's A. May 12, 2011
Wow! That looks wonderful!
 
HollowLeg
HollowLeg May 12, 2011
Thanks! If you try it, let me know what you think!