Smoked Cheese and Broccoli Tart

Broccoli, leeks, walnuts – they’re all perfectly respectable ingredients, but not exactly irresistible on their own.

But if you combine them, add plenty of garlic, top them with melted smoked cheese, and serve them in a golden shortcrust pastry case… you get a seriously delicious vegetarian tart. This smoked cheese and broccoli tart is utter magic!

This is one of those meals that just keeps you going back for more. You know – ‘I’m just going to cut one more sliver, to even things out’. And before you know it, you’ve eaten half the tart.

I love how versatile this tart is. I like to have it for dinner one night with roast potatoes and gravy, and then serve the leftovers cold with salad the next day. It’s great in a lunchbox, or as an appetiser for a dinner party… It truly is the tart of all tarts.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It makes getting an extra portion of vegetables into your day really easy.
• It’s so versatile, and can be served in all sorts of different ways.
• The flavours are unreal! Buttery sautéed leeks with slightly bitter walnuts is such a wonderful combination.
• Although it takes a little longer to prepare than most of my recipes, it’s not difficult – especially if you use shop-bought pastry.
• Shortcrust pastry is pretty forgiving, even if you don’t bake very often. And worst case, if it looks a little untidy, just call it ‘rustic’ (my usual technique!).

🥗 Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• shortcrust pastry. You can make your own if you like (here’s a simple recipe), but I used a block of pre-made pastry. You can even buy it pre-rolled (though it’s usually cheaper in a block).
• broccoli
• leeks
• smoked cheese – I used a simple smoked cheddar. If you can’t find smoked cheese, a nice extra mature cheddar would be good too.
• walnuts
• eggs
• garlic
• sour cream (you can swap this for milk, if you don’t have sour cream)

Becca’s Top Tip

Even if you’re using pre-rolled pastry, I like to roll it a bit thinner before use. It helps to make sure your tart ends up nice and crispy (no soggy bottom here), and since it also makes the pastry larger, it means you can use it to make more things too!

🔪 Equipment

For this recipe, you will need a tart dish… or whatever it’s called. A tart tin? A flan pan? Call it what you will.

I prefer to use a metal tin, as it helps the pastry to crisp up underneath. A loose-bottomed tin is also a big help, as it makes it so easy to remove the tart from the dish once it’s cooked.

These tins on Amazon UK / Amazon US are very similar to the one I use, and they both have really good reviews.

📋 Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Roll out the pastry, and use it to line the pie tin. Weigh the pastry down in the centre (you can use baking beans if you have them; I usually just place a smaller cake tin in the centre), then bake until just beginning to firm up. Trim round the edge of the dish to neaten up the pastry.

Becca’s Top Tip

Don’t throw away the excess pastry you cut from around the sides of the tart before baking! I always cook the scraps on a baking tray while the tart is baking, and serve them spread with jam. Like a super easy jam tart!

Step 2: While the pastry is blind baking, fry off the broccoli and leeks with plenty of garlic.

Step 3: Thoroughly mix the eggs with some sour cream and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Stir in the grated smoked cheese. You can add a splash of milk too, if the mixture seems too thick.

Step 4: Time to assemble! Add the broccoli and leek mixture to the pastry case, and spread it out evenly. Scatter with the chopped walnuts.

Step 5: Pour the egg mixture over the top. The grated cheese will mostly settle on the top of the pie, and the egg will trickle through to the bottom. Bake until the egg is fully cooked and the cheese is crispy.

Step 6: Allow the tart to cool for a couple of minutes, then remove it from the pan. Serve warm or cold.

💭 Recipe FAQs