Before and after: A leek makeover

I just lined up my posts for the week and by pure coincidence they all seem to be before-and-afters. But who doesn’t like a good makeover story?

This story features leeks, the hardy and mild allium. It starts late last summer with the planting of my winter garden. The leeks held strong all winter, really started beefing up in early spring, and eventually started forming seed heads.

But while allium flowers are perfectly gorgeous (look at all the ornamental varieties) I wasn’t growing mine for the flowers.

So I harvested. But what to do with them? Could I do these lovingly-grown leeks justice? Could I do better than the ubiquitous potato leek soup?

Yep. With a flamiche (a French leek tart). I made mine with rustic-style short crust, creamed leeks and brie. Served it all with a (homegrown) green salad in an attempt to counterbalance the fat content of the tart. Easy, impressive, and delicious.

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