Pasta with Leeks
Let’s go back to Italian pasta once more. One of the most common types is penne: short tubes, no longer than a matchstick and up to 10 mm across, with the ends cut at an angle.
The name comes from the Italian word “penna”, which means feather or quill.
It suddenly struck me: why did penna turn into penne? After all, Penne is also a town in Abruzzo, in the province of Pescara.
However that may be, penne is usually cooked in vigorously boiling salted water until al dente, “to the tooth”.
It’s the sauce that really makes the flavor of pasta. That matters a lot. Make pasta with basil and tomatoes and it will be delicious. Take the tomatoes out and leave just the basil, and it’s every bit as good, and for many people even better: simple pasta with basil. Add broccoli to the sauce and the sauce, and with it the whole dish, becomes completely different. I’ve always been drawn to recipes with leeks. Pasta with leeks is an easy seasonal dish, a way to make a tasty breakfast pasta quickly.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Pasta (penne) 250 g
- Water for cooking the pasta 2.5 l
- Salt for the pasta water 7 g per 1 l of water
- Leeks 1 leek
- Tomatoes 1 leek
- Garlic 1 clove
- Sweet bell pepper 1 leek
- Parsley 3-4 sprigs
- Olive oil 2 tbsp
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried Mediterranean herbs to taste
Step-by-step recipe
Lately I especially like tomato-based sauces. It’s great when it’s the season and you can get ripe fresh tomatoes. When it isn’t, canned tomato pulp comes to the rescue. And of course, these days there are always imported greenhouse tomatoes too.
I had no idea that many people don’t know what a leek looks like. Or rather, they don’t connect the name with the vegetable, and for some reason take it for asparagus. The leek (Latin Allium porrum) is also called the “pearl onion” or “pearl leek”. In Bulgarian it is simply “praz-luk”. The white stalk and the thickened leaf bases that form the thick false stem are what we eat.
Remove the seeds from the pepper and cut it into strips or slices. You don’t have to peel the tomatoes, but if you like, scald them with boiling water and slip off the skins. Be sure to remove the seeds and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Grate the garlic finely or chop it with a knife.
Cut the leek, the stalk only, into rounds across the stalk, 2-3 mm thick. They say you should use only the white part. But I cut up to where the first leaf begins, where it’s already slightly green. By the way, in my opinion the green part of the leek is even tastier.
Pour olive oil into a frying pan and fry the pepper in it for 3-4 minutes.
Next, add the sliced leek and keep frying for another 3-4 minutes. If the pepper and leek are still a bit raw, fry them a little longer or simmer the vegetables under a lid over low heat.
Add the tomato wedges and garlic. Salt to taste, add just a little black pepper and a pinch of dried aromatic herbs typical of Mediterranean cooking. Stir very gently.
Simmer the vegetables under a lid for 3-4 minutes. That’s enough. If you like, add a little sugar to the sauce to make it slightly sweet and sour.
Boil the pasta, ideally penne but fusilli will do, in several liters of salted water with 1-2 pinches of Mediterranean herbs (oregano, dill, coriander, marjoram, savory, parsley). The cooking time is on the package, usually 8-12 minutes. It’s better to stop a little short of fully cooked. The Italians call it al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander.
Combine the cooked pasta with the sauce.
Pasta with leeks is best hot, freshly made.
Sprinkle the pasta with leeks with finely chopped parsley.
Calories and macros
665 kcal
Serving ≈ 470 g
- Protein19 g12% of kcal
- Fat16 g23% of kcal
- Carbs104 g65% of kcal
100 g141 kcalProtein 4 gFat 3.5 gCarbs 22 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
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