Zucchini Leek Tartlets: Guest Baker, René LaVoie

We here at Tales of Three Bakers welcome René LaVoie of The Savory Life who brings us a glimpse into her culinary talents! For more of René's recipes, also check out her personal recipe page at GroupRecipes ~Luisa

Hello! I'm René, and Luisa graciously asked me to be a guest blogger. Her culinary creativity is an inspiration to me and my kitchen adventures, so it is truly a pleasure :)

Now on to the Zucchini Leek Tartlets!

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These babies could rival a chocolate ganache over the meaning of the word "decadent." Plus, you can feel good about eating a few veggies while indulging. Another plus: you don't have to wait for the dough to rest! But you could make it ahead of time if you must, just keep it in the fridge.

I used rich homemade ricotta by Smitten Kitchen for the filling~yum! but a good quality store-bought would work just fine.

I did have a bit of dough leftover, not quite enough to make another tart, so I flattened it into shapes with my hands and baked it into "crackers" that my son and I dipped into some extra ricotta :)

Ingredients:

for the crust:

adapted from Paule Caillat via David Lebovitz

12 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp canola or safflower oil

6 Tbsp water (I used the whey leftover from making the ricotta)

1/4 tsp finely ground sea salt

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

for the toppings:

about 2 cups ricotta cheese

1 large zucchini, thinly sliced

1 leek, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary

freshly shredded pecorino romano

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit and arrange seven 5"

spring form tart pans on a large baking tray.

Add the butter, oil, water (or whey), salt, and rosemary to a small pan and bring to a low boil.

Mix the flours in a heat-proof bowl and add the liquid mixture. Stir until the dough just comes together.

When the dough is cool enough to work with, separate it into seven equal balls, and press each ball into a tart pan. Reinforce the sides with your fingers or a fork, and poke a few holes in the bottom of each with a fork.

Reserve a small piece of dough in the bowl for patching up holes or cracks after the first bake. Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside.

While the crusts are cooling, saute the leeks in a bit of oil, then toss in a bowl with the zucchini. Add s&p.

When the crusts are cool, add a generous dollop of ricotta in each, and spread it into an even layer.

Sprinkle the garlic & rosemary over the ricotta. Arrange the leeks and zucchini on top any which way, and top it all off with the pecorino romano.

Bake for 10 minutes. If they're not as golden as you'd like, stick 'em under the broiler for a minute or two, but make sure those crusts don't burn! Serve hot and enjoy :)