Creamy Bacon and Leek Pasta

Leeks are plentiful at this time of year, and since writing this blog has forced me to think about cooking some new and interesting stuff, I figured it was about time that leeks made it onto the menu. I remember having something like this while I was in London many years ago, but since I couldn't recall the exact ingredients, I just sort of made this up as I went along (yes, as usual).

Creamy Bacon and Leek Pasta

Boil up a pot of pasta, whatever you happen to have on hand.

In a large frying pan, heat some oil and fry 4 finely sliced garlic cloves. As this starts to brown, add 4 chopped rashers of bacon (I also threw in 1/2 a chorizo sausage, sliced, since it was in the fridge). When the bacon starts to go crispy, add to the pan:
1 chopped cored apple;
1 large diced tomato;
1 carrot sliced into thick wedges;
1 large squirt (about 2-3T) of worcester sauce.


Allow this to simmer for a few minutes before adding 1 leek, sliced into roughly 1 cm pieces. As the leeks start to cook, break the rings up and mix them through the pan.


Simmer for 15 minutes are so. Add about 150ml of cream to the pan and allow to heat through. Turn the heat down and spoon several large dollops of ricotta cheese over the pan, but don't stir in. You just want this to warm, but not to disappear into the mix.


Dish the pasta onto plates, and carefully extract the bacon & leeks from the pan, keeping the ricotta piles intact. Serve with freshly ground pepper.