Dean's cheesy leek tart

St David’s Day, the Patron saint of Wales, is celebrated this week, so Dean is taking the country's national emblem, the leek, to cook up an easy mid-week treat!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

200g smoked pancetta lardons
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 leeks approximately (500g), washed and shredded
5-6 sheets filo pastry
Oil, for brushing
30g unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
150ml double cream
Salt and pepper
150g Caerphilly or strong Cheddar cheese, grated
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, picked

Method:

1) Pre-heat oven to 190C /gas 5

2) Fry the pancetta over a medium to high heat until golden then stir in the onion, garlic, and leek then reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring as you go. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

3) Take a sheet of filo then lay into a greased medium sized oven-proof frying pan or round baking dish. Brush lightly with the oil then repeat the process until the filo has been used up, overlapping each sheet so every side of the pan has some filo hanging over, brush with a final coating of butter.

4) Beat together the eggs and cream then season with salt and pepper. Scatter in the cool pancetta and leeks, then the cheese and thyme and mix well.

5) Gently pour the egg and cheese mixture into the pastry base, then turn the edges of the filo in on themselves to form a neat crust. Then brush with a last coating of butter.

6) Bake for 30-35 minutes

* Leave to cool for 5 minutes, before portioning and serving with a salad.