Fine finger food in honor of a Great Ocean

There's no time in the Northern hemisphere I like better than this: the countdown to June 21. Before this, all of nature is thriving, moving to and reaching its most upward position. I'm eagerly enjoying this time, but also feeling pangs of regret that after solstice days are shortening and everything is slowly creeping downhill again.

Nothing better than some finger food to chase that thought, to prepare one day in advance and to take to a beach slightly cooled the next day or to a porch at sunset. It's a vegetable tart without a crust that I've described before (here), but last night I made it without crust and with variations. Use any vegetable, seasoning, flour and cheese of choice.

Crustless Leek Tart, with variations - Original recipe by Lucrèce Roegiers of Yggdrasil

6 leeks (I only had 4)
olive oil,
salt, pepper
dry herbs and spices of choice
50 g quinoa flour (variation) (or any type of flour, but use something gluten free for a change)
2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
3 beaten eggs
200 g fresh goat cheese (variation)
a few nibbles of grated young pecorino (variation)

Preheat the oven at 180 °C.

Stew the vegetables in some olive oil over moderate heat together with spices and herbs, (limited) salt and pepper, until tender. Remove from the heat.

Add the flour and bread crumbs to the vegetables, mix well, add the eggs mix well, and add the goat cheese and other cheese with a fork. Move mixture to buttered round tart tin.

Bake for 30 minutes, let cool.

This is so good cold the next day! Perfect finger food in honor of a Great Ocean.

Remarks:
I did prefer it with the 50g semolina flour that I used last time
I copied a trick from Joanna at Joanna's Food that I have to use with crusts: I sprinkled some oatmeal flakes on the bottom. Joanna has several fine crust recipes that are very worthwhile.
She lists them again in her new blog An English Kitchen.
Yep, the veggie tart is here to stay all summer.

Stamp of approval: leek and chickpea soup

Lu et approuvé, read with a stamp of approval: Dr. Ben Kim's leek and chickpea soup. He did provide his own mouthwatering set of pictures and explanation here, so I won't bother. I decorated with olive oil and peanut butter.

Crustless Leek Tart, Greek style

You come home on a Saturday that has been fraught with activity after a full week, and the onset of colder weather makes you crave hearty food. But you don't want to slave away. The crustless leek tart Greek style by an acquaintance of mine was just something that filled the ticket. The irony is that I had bought a ready-made crust for another tart, and my tired brain had absentmindedly unpacked the crust already. So I baked a pleonastic tart: a filling that is almost like a crust + new crust. But it's all about what's inside this baked goody.

Crustless Leek Tart, Greek style

6 big leeks, also the green parts
pepper and salt
2 bay leaves
50 g semolina flour
3 eggs
100 g grated gruyère or other cheese (I used parmezan)
2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
180 g feta

Preheat the oven at 180 °C.

Clean the leeks, cut them in rings. Add the bay leaves, and either steam or stirfry the leek until they are done. Remove the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper (no salt necessary on account of the feta). Add the semolina, and mix well.

Beat the eggs, and add them to the leek-semolina, mix again. Add the grated cheese, mix.

Coat a cake tin with butter, and sprinkle it with the breadcrumbs. Add the leek mix to the tin. Cut the feta in pieces, and divide over the tart.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

The kind of comfort food that makes you feel grateful that you still lifted a finger to make it. Never mind the crust this time.