Leeks, apple, soft and hard cheeses and garlic – this must be comfort food incarnate.

This dish is great with pork sausages, or with gammon.

Recipe for creamy leek and apple gratin – comfort food incarnate

Serves about 4

Ingredients

• about 50g/2 oz butter
• 500g/1 lb 2 oz leeks
• slug of olive oil
• 1 large egg
• ideally, a pinch of Urfa pepper flakes, or some freshly ground black pepper
• 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with 1 tsp smoked salt
• 50g/⅓ cup grated hard cheese – Parmesan or cheddar, or a mix of the two
• 2 x ciabatta rolls – total weight approximately 160g/6 oz
• 240 ml/1 cup single cream
• 160 ml/⅔ cup stock – chicken or vegetable made with one stock cube and hot water
• small bunch of thyme
• 150g/5 oz soft goats’ cheese
• 1 apple
• 1 tbsp water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Butter an ovenproof dish.
3. Trim the leeks, rinse them if necessary and slice into rounds about 1 cm/¼” thick. Put them in the dish.
4. Add a slug of oil, season the leeks, and mix. Add the water, mix in again. Dot with butter, cover with foil and put in the oven for half an hour or so – it’s important that the leeks are soft, thoroughly cooked through or they can cause indigestion.
5. Meanwhile, peel, quarter and core the apple, and then slice it. distribute over the leeks. Tear over the ciabatta.
6. In a mixing bowl which pours easily, mix the eggs, cream, stock, and garlic cloves. Drop in bits of goats’ cheese and mix in. Pour over the leek mixture, mix.
7. Sprinkle over the cheese, and return to oven for another twenty minutes or so. Pour over a few additional slurps of cream.
8. Serve the apple gratin with the sausages, gammon!