- Recipes | Weeknight Supper
Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère
If you’re looking for a rich, creamy, cheesy winter or early spring pasta dish made with just a handful of ingredients (we count 6, plus olive oil, salt and pepper!) you’re going to love our recipe for Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère cheese. Short, fat rigatoni pasta shapes are tossed with a creme fraiche-spiked sauce of slow cooked leeks, the perfect pasta recipe for the hunger gap when fresh vegetables are a little thin on the ground.
Believe it or not, you can make this rich, creamy Caramalised Leek Pasta in roughly 20 minutes!
A large leek (or a couple of smaller ones!) are cooked over a relatively high heat to get caramelised edges and a tender middle with plenty of garlic and a few anchovies for savoury depth, before creme fraiche, a generous handful of gruyère cheese and some of that lovely, starchy pasta cooking water is stirred through for a slightly Italian, slightly French inspired, totally luscious pasta dish we just know you’re going to love!
Ingredients
- rigatoni (or any other short chunky pasta shape)
- salt
- large leek (or two smaller ones!)
- olive oil
- garlic
- anchovy fillets (these don’t make the dish taste fishy, they just add an extra hit of umami – if you’re using ones packed in salt rather than in oil, make sure you rinse them well before using!)
- low fat creme fraiche (or regular creme fraiche, if that’s what you’ve got open)
- gruyere cheese (or another semi-mild hard cheese that grates and melts really well)
- black pepper
Directions
Step 1
Start by getting the pasta onto the boil.
Step 2
Dice the leeks, add a generous glug of olive oil to a pan and fry on a relatively high heat until the edges char and they start to soften.
Step 3
Add the minced garlic and stir through the anchovy fillets, pressing them into the pan so they melt down.
Step 4
Add a label of pasta water into the pan, bubble for a couple of minutes then turn the heat down and add the creme fraiche, followed by a handful of gruyere.
Step 5
Drain the pasta once al dente and stir through the pasta sauce.
Step 6
Serve up topped with lots more gruyere, a little black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just make sure you use plenty of cheese for that savoury depth, which is what you’ll be missing with the anchovies. Also, you’ll need to use a different hard cheese that grated and melts well. Traditional Gruyère, with the PDO label is not vegetarian-friendly.
We like low fat creme fraiche for the extra tang it adds to the sauce, but if you only have cream open in the fridge a squeeze of fresh lemon should balance things out nicely.
Happily this is one of those pasta recipes that will work with practically any pasta shape, long or short — the caramalised leeks will be just as happy swirled into a forkful of spaghetti as they would tossed through fusilli.
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Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère
This quick, cheese Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta recipe with Gruyère takes roughly 20 minutes to make – special enough to serve to guests, but quick enough for a mid-week supper.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
- 200g rigatoni
- sea salt
- 1 leek
- olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
- 2 heaped tbsp low fat creme fraiche
- 100g gruyere, grated
- fresh cracked black pepper, to serve
Instructions
- Start by getting the pasta on to boil.
- Dice the leeks, add a generous glug of olive oil to a pan and fry on a relatively high heat until the edges char and they start to soften.
- Add the minced garlic and stir through the anchovy fillets pressing them into the pan so that they melt down.
- Add a ladle of the pasta water into the pan, bubble for a couple of minutes then turn the heat down and add the creme fraiche followed by a handful of gruyere.
- Drain the pasta once al dente and stir through the pasta sauce.
- Serve up topped with lots more gruyere, a little black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
To make a vegetarian version of this Creamy Caramalised Leek Pasta make sure you use plenty of cheese for that savoury depth, which is what you’ll be missing with the anchovies. Also, you’ll need to use a different hard cheese that grated and melts well. Traditional Gruyère, with the PDO label is not vegetarian-friendly.
