Ingredients (Serves 2 as entrée)

• 1 1/2 oz. / 42 g leek, white and light green portion, washed and cut into 1/8 inch / 3 mm thick half-moons
• 5 1/4 oz. / 15o g baby kale (mine is “Red Russian” variety)
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml EV olive oil
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 165 g / 5 3/4 oz. (half a batch) of “alternative” puff pastry OR equivalent amount of regular puff pastry
• Crescenza or Stracchino cheese, to taste (without overdoing it)

Instructions

Rinse leek well and drain.

Wash the baby kale and don’t drain them completely. Discard the tougher end of the stalks, then cut leaves into ribbons no more than 1/2-inch wide.

Warm up olive oil in a medium skillet. Add leek and and cook it for 2 minutes, stirring often. Cover the skillet and cook leek for 5 minutes longer on gentle heat, until quite tender.

Uncover the skillet, turn up the heat to medium and add the cut kale leaves. Cook in the water clinging to them for 2 minutes. Cover the skillet and continue cooking on gentle heat until kale is tender, about 8 minutes. Stir to make sure kale cooks evenly and doesn’t stick to the pan. Season with salt and let cool briefly.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Roll out the pastry until fairly thin, then place it on the lined baking sheet. I like to make a rectangular tart. Prick the shell with a fork in several places.

Distribute kale over rolled pastry, leaving a border all around (about 1/2 inch).

Cut thin slices of cheese and distribute in pieces on the kale at regular intervals. I never weigh the cheese, relying on my sense of balance to adjust the quantity: you want to be able to taste all the ingredients.

Pinch the pastry all around to raise it slightly and fold to make a kind of border. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the visible crust is light golden, about 25 minutes. As usual, the time varies with the oven. Check the tart after 20 minutes and estimate the time remaining.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven, let rest briefly, then move the tart to a plate or wooden tray, cut it, serve and enjoy.

Cut into smaller pieces, the tart makes a nice appetizer.

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