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What to do with a leek.

Leeks are the world's most under-rated vegetable, except by those in the know, and the Welsh. They can even play a starring role in pasta dishes.

While many people think of pasta sauces as either tomato- or cream-based, or rough equivalents, this recipe contains neither, but is as unctuous as the cream versions, and packs as much flavour as the acid-edged tomato ones.

Rigatoni with leek, mushroom and gorgonzola.

Slice one large leek finely into very thin rings. Rinse to eliminate grit. Slice half a red capsicum into fine dice. Slice six button mushrooms. Place leek, capsicum and mushrooms into a pan and cook slowly with olive oil and a little butter until the leek has 'melted' but not caramelised. The capsicum and mushrooms will look after themselves, the latter shedding a little fluid to keep the whole thing moist.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta. For this, I used rigatoni.

Drain pasta and fold through the leek 'sauce'. Top with chopped parsley.

Perfect as it is; or to raise the bar even higher, crumble gorgonzola over the top and add toasted pine nuts.

McLaren Vale Shiraz to accompany.

Comments

  1. Heaven!...and I just bought a leek this afternoon which I was going to put in a pot to help flavour a poached chicken...but now you've got me thinking about pasta
    Decisions decisions

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, MG. I do that all the time; change horses in midstream.

    ReplyDelete

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