BRUSCHETTA WITH STEWED LEEKS AND GOAT CHEESE

You can serve this as a hearty appetizer or first course or even as dinner with a big salad on the side. If you don’t have goat cheese on hand, feta would work too or even just a little butter. Quantities are approximate so scale up or down to suit your needs.

Serves 10 as an appetizer or 4-5 as a side

Ingredients:

2-3 large leeks or more smaller ones (discard only the top couple of inches that are tough and scruffy. Most of the green part is good to use.)

Olive oil

5 slices of good, crusty bread

3-4 ounces soft goat cheese (see headnote for alternatives)

3 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme, minced or crumbled (optional)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil, for drizzling

Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Clean leeks well and cut in half lengthwise then cut into ½ inch half-rounds. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the leeks when the oil is hot. Stir well to coat, salt with a couple of pinches of salt. Add thyme and stir well. Cook for a few minutes uncovered, then turn the heat down a bit and cover. Check occasionally to make sure the leeks aren’t browning or burning. Add a splash of water if they start to stick and turn the heat down a bit more. Cook for about 15 minutes until leeks are meltingly tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, toast the bread and hard-boil the eggs and peel and chop those. Spread the goat cheese on the bread, arrange stewed leeks on cheese, sprinkle with egg, salt and a couple of grinds of pepper and drizzle a little good olive oil over the whole thing. Garnish with parsley. There is no way to eat this delicately. They make a mess, the toppings fall off. . . no matter.