Sundays with Sparky - Potato-Leek tartlets

It's Puppy Bowl Sunday, a day which Sparky looks forward to every year. Oh, yea, there's something about some other game, too - but we can remain in blissful ignorance because this year Dad is at work (tee, hee!) There are a lot of foods that work well for Puppy Bowl viewing, but I decided that we needed a vegetable dish that could be eaten with our hands...and I happened to have a couple of leeks in the fridge that needed to be used. Leeks, potato, bacon and cheese are natural partners - and I also happened to have a box of frozen phyllo cups that were taking up far too much room in the freezer.

We used a larger-size cup, but this recipe will probably work better with the bite-size cups that are more widely available in the frozen pastry section of your grocery.

Ingredients:
2 leeks
2 medium potatoes
3-4 slices bacon
Salt and pepper to taste
EVOO
1/4 -1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
About 2 tbsp sour cream
Phyllo tart shells

First, the prep: Sparky washed and loosely peeled the potatoes (I like a bit of peel, so we didn't get them all the way down to their tidy whities) and set them aside.  He then took the root end off the leeks, and cut the green part off at an angle to reveal the pale green inside (the dark green part is too tough to eat.)

Then we sliced the leeks almost in half lengthwise. The inner layers of a leek can sometimes trap dirt and sand, and need to be opened and washed thoroughly.

 The leeks were sliced, the potatoes were diced (cut them in halves to get a flat surface, then quarters, then cut the quarters in slices and then cubes) and thin-sliced bacon was cut into shreds.

Since our bacon wasn't very fatty, we added some olive oil to a hot skillet and sauteed the bacon until it was crispy. Sparky then added the leeks and potatoes and continued stirring until everything was well blended and lightly toasted.


We added a small amount of chicken stock (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan well,) covered the pan, and allowed it to steam for about 7 minutes until the potatoes were tender.



Then, using two spoons, Sparky scooped some of the leeks and potatoes into each tart shell.

I topped this with a small dollop of sour cream and a little Parmesan cheese, and then we filled the tarts the rest of the way, and topped the whole thing with more Parmesan. The tarts were baked in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Yum!