Potato Leek Tarte

There’s a tired old joke that goes like this:

One couple invites another couple over for dinner. “I’ll bring a tarte!”, says the woman. “What’s her name?” asks the husband.

Bah-da-boom!

But this (savory) tarte is easy to make, and impressive to bring, as  it seems both complicated and refined, while managing to be both hearty and child-friendly at the same time. Served with tomato soup it’s perfect in the winter; with a green salad, it’s light and tasty in the summer.

Are your taste buds watering yet? They should be, but I must warn you that this is not for those of you on a diet, as it comes from the ‘the more cream the better’ section of my recipe book!

Potato Leek Tarte

• 4 to 5 smallish potatoes, enough to make 3 cups when diced and cooked
• 3 cups chopped leeks (the white part only)- I use frozen.
• 1 cup chopped bacon
• 1 ready made pie crust (the flaky kind)
• At least one cup (heavy) cream

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Dice and boil the potatoes until tender. While they are cooking, saute the bacon until about half as crispy as you like it to be normally, and then add the chopped leeks. Cook until it’s all tender, bacon and leeks. Then put the cooked potatoes into the pie crust, cover with the leeks and bacon and pour the cream on top. I usually don’t add any other seasonings, as the bacon is salty enough. Bake until crispy on top, about 1/2 hour.

I serve this both hot and cold, and have lately found it to be a great picnic food!