You really don’t need a recipe for this but a bit of inspiration for something stress-free can sometimes be helpful.
Wine Suggestion: a classic, oaked Chardonnay, like Chateau de Beauregard’s Pouilly Fuissé. Both mineral and fresh, and with a roundness and textured from the light oak use and time on lees. A great wine to accompany food, but never over-power it.
Pappardelle with sweet leeks and mascarpone – serves 4
- 1 small knob of butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 medium-sized leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced at an angle
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 200g mascarpone
- 400g fresh pappardelle
- a handful of grated Parmesan
Warm the butter and olive oil in a large heavy-based pan, add the leeks and garlic, then cover and leave to sweat over a gentle heat. It’s difficult to give timings as it really depends on the leeks but keep cooking until they are meltingly soft but not at all coloured. Add the mascarpone and allow it to melt to make a thick sauce, then season with salt and black pepper.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of salty boiling water until al dente. Scoop the pasta straight from the pot into the leeks and stir to coat the pasta, you will probably need a few splashes of cooking water to loosen the sauce and make it cling to the pasta.
Serve in warm bowls with plenty of grated Parmesan.
(Original recipe from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver, Michael Joseph, 1999.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 