276128 Mon Jan 24 23:53:13 -0800 2005 12 31 Home Cooking 0 1456061 For dinner tonight I made a Leek Sauce from Marcella Hazan's "Marcella Says . . ." and served it tossed with an artisanal dried rigatoni. I highly recommend this sauce. It is an incredibly earthy and appealing dish. My husband was skeptical, in that the ingredient list was merely leeks, oil, butter, garlic, salt, pepper a little cream, pasta and parmigiano-reggiano cheese, but we both trust Marcella implicitly and we were not disappointed. A great meal for a cool winter night. We served it with roasted broccoli with lemon as a side dish, a great combination. Make this pasta—your efforts will be rewarded!! Mon Jan 24 23:53:13 -0800 2005 0 farmersdaughter 1 1456075 Can you give us a (re-written) version of her recipe? Tue Jan 25 05:44:32 -0800 2005 1456061 0 Sharuf 2 1456114 Here is a paraphrased version of the recipe: 6 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced into rounds 1/4" thick 1 T veg oil 3 T butter 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled fine sea salt 1/2 cup heavy cream pepper 1 pound pasta (strozzapreti, fusilli, penne or rigatoni) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste Soak leeks in a large bowl of cold water to remove dirt. Shake off excess water but do not dry off leeks. Put oil, butter and garlic in a 12" skillet on medium heat. Cook garlic briefly, stirring; remove and discard it when it turns very pale blond. (I saved the cloves and roasted them in the oven in aluminum foil to spread on bread.) Add leeks to pan, sprinkle them with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they become very soft, almost creamy in consistency (takes about 45 minutes). If the pan gets dry while the leeks are cooking down, add 3 or 4 tablespoons water. When leeks are completely soft, increase heat to high and continue cooking them until they become colored a pale nut color, turning them over occasionally. Sprinkle with generous grindings of pepper to counterbalance their potentially cloying sweetness. Add cream and reduce it over high heat for a minute or two. Add the pasta to the sauce in the pan, toss together over high heat for a minute, add a generous amount of parmigiano-reggiano cheese and serve. Tue Jan 25 12:15:50 -0800 2005 1456075 0 farmersdaughter 3 1456218 thank you for posting the recipe! i just fixed it tonight for the family and it was a huge hit. wow . . . . . those leeks taste incredibly sweet after cooking for that long. per your suggestion, i popped the garlic in the oven as well and enjoyed it spread on homemade italian bread. yum! Tue Jan 25 22:10:57 -0800 2005 1456114 0 theconiglio 4 1456264 I am so glad you liked it! That one is definitely going on the "repeat" list at our house. Wed Jan 26 11:49:45 -0800 2005 1456218 0 farmersdaughter 1 2312733 Wow! That is a truly amazing and very easy dish. Just perfect! Tue Feb 20 19:49:45 -0800 2007 1456061 13248 China 1 2313777 Thanks so much for posting that. I cooked with leeks for the first time recently and was really blown away by them (doesn't take much to impress a chowhound, huh? I'm not as cloistered as I sound!). This sounds like a great, next leek recipe for me to try. Wed Feb 21 08:22:56 -0800 2007 1456061 11607 Smokey 1 2314862 How long did it take to make the sauce? Did you serve right away? What kind of pasta did you use? Thanks! Wed Feb 21 12:25:56 -0800 2007 1456061 15958 edinaeats 1 2317615 i made this last night. cut the recipe in half and while it was delicious (fantastic ash wedensday meal!), i feel like the sauce wasn't "wet" enough if that makes sense. I may have gone overboard with the parm, perhaps? i also used light instead of heavy cream.... could that be it? anyone else have this issue? Thu Feb 22 08:11:08 -0800 2007 1456061 12724 eLizard 2 2318431 If your pasta sauce is too dry (no matter the kind of sauce), add some of the pasta cooking water until you obtain the consistency you like. Thu Feb 22 10:44:44 -0800 2007 2317615 11995 pikawicca 3 2318529 i do this often and i did last night, too. i think my skillet was too big for a half recipe and it just evaporated too quickly. Thu Feb 22 11:01:09 -0800 2007 2318431 12724 eLizard 1 2319917 If you love the above pasta recipe, or are just discovering leeks, you MUST try making a leek tart. Essentially the same recipe as above (no pasta though). Once you have cooked down the leeks and added cream, add a raw egg or two (cool your leek mixture first!), a generous helping of grated gruyere, some chopped prosciutto and pour the whole thing into a pie shell. Top with more gruyere and prosciutto and bake at 350 for about half hour. Allow to cool slightly then serve. This recipe is amazing and very flexible. Thu Feb 22 15:54:15 -0800 2007 1456061 71994 xscientist 2 2320057 I make Julia Child's leek tart all the time. It's a hit. Thu Feb 22 16:30:41 -0800 2007 2319917 12724 eLizard