Braised leeks may not be a typical side dish in your cooking repertoire, but after you taste my Creamy Braised Leeks with Bacon, that will all change. Braising leeks in butter and white wine really brings out their sweet flavor. Adding crunchy pieces of bacon and a touch of heavy cream to the mix brings a comforting and rich flavor to the overall dish.
If you are not familiar with leeks, they look like really big green onions and have a mild onion flavor. Before cooking leeks they must be thinly sliced and soaked in water to remove any residual sand or dirt that might be on the vegetable. Most often used in French cooking, leeks most popular use is in vichyssoise, or leek and potato soup. Because of their mild onion flavor, I love to use leeks in casseroles, accompanying roasted meats and fish, and even on savory tarts or in egg dishes.
Sliced leeks cooking with bacon in butter
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Creamy Braised Leeks with Bacon
Ingredients:
- 4 slices of thick cut bacon
- 1 Tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 4 leeks, thinly sliced into half-moon shapes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Directions:
- After you slice the leeks into half-moon shapes, place them in a mixing bowl with water. Wash, drain, and dry the cleaned leeks.
- In a large sauté pan, cook the bacon pieces over medium heat until crisp. Add in the butter and the leeks and season with salt and pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook the leeks for 5 minutes or until tender. Add in the white wine to deglaze the pan. Cook an additional 3 minutes. Lastly, add the heavy cream, reduce the heat to low and cook an additional 5 minutes or until the leek-mixture is thick and creamy.
Tagged: bacon, braised, French, heavy cream, leeks, side dish, white wine
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