Baby Tart

Tomorrow at work, we are having a "baby party". Weird, I know. This is at a research labs that has exactly 4 women employed. Three of the researchers in our office have had kids in the past month, plus we added another team member, hence the party. Honestly, I think we just look for every excuse to eat and not work between 9-5.

Anyways, the reason I got into that is because everybody was asked to bring some food to contribute. We have a VERY diverse group of people and I'm looking forward to the tzatziki, tiramisu, and indian sweets that I know are on the list.

I had bought some leeks at the Berkeley Farmer's Market last week and was itching to make something with them. A search on google came up with "Leek and Camembert Tart" on Epicurious.com, of course. ..

Never to be one to follow a recipe exactly, I made some changes. The recipe, with my changes, is below. I substituted brie cheese because a. I LOVE IT and b. it was cheaper than the camembert(hey, I'm TRYING to stick to a budget). Also, I added onions to it since I only had 3 small leeks, some garlic, and I made a pie crust instead of using the puff pastry.

Admittedly, I haven't tasted the completed version yet; however, the custard was delicious. I'll update tomorrow and let you know how it was.

Update: The tart was a pretty great. I served it room temperature because we didn't have an oven to reheat it and it was definitely tasty. When I make it again, I'll serve it warm with a salad.

Baby Tart:

1 9-inch pie crust, pre-baked

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 small leeks (white and pale green parts only), sliced
2 large onions, sliced thin
1 sprig of thyme
2/3 cup whipping cream
4 ounces Brie cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt to taste

2 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Caramelize the onions, onions, leeks, and thyme in butter. This took me about 20 minutes.

Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; add brie and stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Whisk in egg, cayenne, and nutmeg. Mix custard with the caramelized onion and leek mixture.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and sprinkle Parmesan over crust. Bake until bottom is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.