I discovered leeks about a year ago with our first CSA box, and it was love at first sight. I love their aggressive green tops and their layers of oniony goodness. They are an easy vegetable to work with (taking care to slice down the middle and clean out any dirt that accumulated in its pale green folds) and adaptable to many recipes.
For this recipe, I melted some butter in a sautee pan and added chopped leeks. (This is very much a personal recipe – meaning you should use what you have.) I had two large leeks and used them both.
I sauteed them until they softened and added some homemade chicken stock and cooked it all down, making sure to season well with salt and pepper. After cooking the leeks and stock down for about 20 minutes, I added a pinch of dry rubbed sage, and stirred in some creme fraiche. Creme fraiche is a great addition to sauces like this – it adds a nice thick tang.
It was a great accompaniment to the grilled beef tenderloin and porcini truffle ravioli*. Adding more stock and creme fraiche would make this recipe more of a sauce – a good topping for pastas.
*The raviolis are from the Pasta Shop in Oakland. A coworker was kind enough to share some with me and I’ve been hopelessly in love with them ever since. I recently found them at Whole Foods. Sadly, they are a seasonal item and will be gone by winter’s end.
