Leek Tart — When the Garden Keeps Giving, You Keep Baking

Back to the home rhythm and the garden was visibly larger after three days of attention paid to other things. The zucchini had begun their inevitable midsummer conspiracy to overproduce — three of them on the bushes Monday morning that needed picking immediately, two more by Wednesday, four more by Friday — and I entered the annual phase of the year where every neighbor and every grandchild on the phone receives the unspoken offer of a zucchini, and most of them accept, and I still end the season with more zucchini than is strictly reasonable. The blog post for the week was the annual zucchini-distribution piece, which I have written approximately every July for ten years, and which always pulls comments from gardeners who are in the same boat and from non-gardeners who are politely baffled by the problem.

Made zucchini bread three loaves Wednesday — Helen's recipe, which calls for two cups grated zucchini per loaf and which is the most reliable use of the surplus I have ever found. The bread came out moist and brown-sugar-sweet and is the kind of quick bread that holds for a week wrapped in foil at room temperature and that improves on the second day. I ate a slice Wednesday for supper with butter, gave a loaf to Ted and Patricia next door, gave a loaf to Phil at the Friday vets coffee, kept the third for myself. The bread distribution is part of the same operation as the zucchini distribution but the bread is more welcome, because no one in Vermont needs a fresh zucchini in July but everyone in Vermont needs a slice of zucchini bread.

The garden had its first significant pest issue of the season — squash bugs on the zucchini plants, the small gray-brown insects that appear seemingly from nowhere in late July and that, if not addressed, can defoliate a squash plant in a week. I do not spray. I have never sprayed. I hand-pick the bugs in the morning when they are slow, drop them in a jar of soapy water, and continue this every day until the population collapses or the plants give out, whichever comes first. The work is tedious. The result is satisfactory. The bugs are not vanquished — they will be back next year — but they are managed, which is the only relationship a kitchen gardener can have with a pest population in the long term.

Sarah's 8 PM call ran short Sunday — Lucy was over at her parents' house and they were having dinner and she did not want to interrupt for long, and we spoke for about four minutes total. I did not mind. The call is the call regardless of length. I have come to think of it as a heartbeat — a brief regular pulse that confirms continued life on both ends of the line — rather than as a substantive communication. The substance happens when it happens. The pulse is the foundational thing, and the pulse has not skipped a beat in nearly four years now, which is the kind of streak that I will not draw attention to lest the drawing-of-attention break the spell.

Three loaves of zucchini bread handled Wednesday’s surplus admirably, but the garden does not pause to let you feel satisfied — by Friday I was already thinking about what else could be turned into something worth handing to a neighbor. The leek tart has become my answer for the weeks when the zucchini bread is already spoken for and there’s still something in the ground begging to be used: it bakes up quietly, holds well, and travels to a coffee gathering without complaint, which is more than I can say for a raw zucchini. Helen would have approved.

Leek Tart

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 pre-made or homemade pie crust (9-inch)
• 3 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup Gruyère cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

Instructions

1. Preheat and blind-bake. Preheat oven to 375°F. Press the pie crust into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Line with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake 12 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and bake another 5 minutes until just set. Set aside.
2. Soften the leeks. In a wide skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter with olive oil. Add sliced leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, 15–18 minutes until leeks are very soft, sweet, and pale gold. Do not rush this step. Stir in thyme and remove from heat.
3. Make the custard. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, and milk until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of the Gruyère, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
4. Assemble. Spread the softened leeks evenly across the blind-baked crust. Pour the custard mixture over the leeks. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup Gruyère on top.
5. Bake. Bake at 375°F for 30–35 minutes, until the custard is set at the edges and barely jiggles in the center. A thin knife inserted near the middle should come out mostly clean.
6. Rest and serve. Let the tart rest on a wire rack at least 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature. Holds well wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 290mg