A season to be tart

It's Autumn in the Northwest which means cooler and wetter days, warm flannel shirts, and jackets with hoods. Why so gloomy? This time of the year is one of the most colorful and festive of all the seasons. Look around you and enjoy the visual palate of gold, yellow, red, and green foliage falling like snow. Get out and kick the piles of leaves just like you did as a child. Splash up the puddles left behind by the last downpour. It's time to relive your younger days and play! Put on your costume and party with the witches and goblins on Halloween night. Eat candy and chocolates 'til your belly aches.

After all that frolicking, you're sure to build an appetite for a little snack. But you don't want to grab a bag of chips or puffs at the convenient store and you certainly don't want to toil in the kitchen working on a complicated recipe. After all, it's just snack time. Finally, you want something hearty that will give you energy and warm your belly. This is where cheese tarts come in. Very easy to prepare from scratch, these wonderful tarts are delicious and take only about 30 minutes to bake.

Let's start by preparing an easy crust for your tart. First, gather your ingredients:

1 cup of flour, 3/4 cube of cold butter cut into squares, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of water

In a large bowl, mix the ingredients using your hands and fingers. Continue to mix until the flour develops a wet sand consistency and it begins to clump. Place the bowl in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Preheat oven at 400 F (200 C).

For your filling, crack 4 eggs in a bowl, along with 1/4 cup of cream, and a bit of salt and pepper. Beat all ingredients together until well mixed.

Now add 1/2 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of grated Swiss cheese (or Gruyere) to the eggs and stir well. Set aside.

Now, chop up about 1/2 cup of Leeks and one medium shallot. Saute for about 5 minutes until translucent, let cool a bit and add to the egg and cheese mixture.

Remove dough from the fridge and begin to line the bottom and edges of 4 individual tart pans (about 5 inch diameter size) or one medium size tart pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, remove and let cool for about 15 minutes.

Finally, begin to fill each tart pan and dot the tops with some grape tomatoes if you wish. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake tarts for about 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Then it's ready to serve