This Weekend’s Brunch: Tart Up the Leftovers

Ah the tyranny of leftovers.

Just following New Year’s Eve, I was left with some puff pastry dough, crème fraîche, and ham and two hungry women. (No raising of the eyebrow, please. My mother and Mrs. E.) By good fortune, I had the latest Williams Sonoma catalogue and was able to fake through their recipe for this tart. I added a little grated Gruyère cheese and some eggs and called it brunch. I forgot about the left over “fauxruga,” but we ate it atop the crusts of puff pastry as a sort of amuse-bouche.

The Easy and Elegant Life Brunch Pizza. (Serves three, with a portion leftover…. that’s where the fish roe comes in.)

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, defrosted.
4 eggs
Approx. 2 oz. of grated Gruyère cheese.
Approx. 3 oz. of crème fraîche.
3 slices of smoked VA. ham. (Or bacon, or whatever you’ve got lying around.)
Chives or green onions, snipped with kitchen shears, to garnish.

Whip up one egg with a bit of water to make an egg wash.

Roll out the puff pastry dough and fold over the sides or score them and lift them slightly. Brush with the egg wash. Toast the puff pastry in the oven on a cookie sheet or a porcelain oven proof plate( be sure to spray it with cooking spray,) for a minute or two just to get the pastry going. Use a fork to prick any dough bubbles that form.

Mix the Gruyère and crème fraîche and spread it over the puff pastry. Lay the ham or bacon on top. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Crack the remaining three eggs over the pizza. Cook at 425ºF for approximately 10 minutes or until the egg whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Garnish with the chives or green onion snippings.

Serve immediately with a new bottle of champagne as I am sure that you don’t have any bubble left over.