My favorite pasta starts with bacon. Just as it should.
I mean in all honesty I have yet to meet anyone who says, “Ew, bacon is just gross. Totally nasty. Zero flavor. I hate that stuff.” I think that’s saying something since most people say that about almost any food for any given reason.
But bacon man. It’s where it’s at.
It also has one of my most frequently underused ingredients that I just happen to adore: leeks. Leeks are sweet and savory and delicate and all things good in the onion world. Not that I don’t love other oniony things – no, I adore them all. But leeks are just so sublime. Not to mention I feel super fancy when I cook with them…something about time-intensive veggies makes my heart go pitter-patter. I feel like I’m back in the good ol’ days (the ones where I wasn’t actually alive) and people made everything from scratch and took a ton of time to do it.
It has radicchio. Bitter, purple, and awesome are the three things that come to mind when I talk about radicchio which unfortunately is not often enough. Methinks that needs to change soon.
So when you add it all together and toss some nutty whole wheat pasta and fontina cheese in the mix you get the kind of flavor explosion you only hear about in legends and myths. But y’all, this is REAL LIFE. Get excited!
PASTA WITH LEEKS, RADICCHIO, AND BACON
(based closely on this recipe from Foodnetwork)
- 6 slices bacon
- 3 leeks, only the white and very light green parts, sliced thinly, soaked, and drained to remove the sand
- 1 head radicchio, sliced very thinly
- 1 pound whole wheat linguine
- 4 oz. fontina cheese (although brie is quite insanely delicious as well)
- salt and pepper to taste
In a large pan render the bacon down until it’s crisp. Remove from the pan and keep 3 Tbsp of the drippings. Saute the leeks in the bacon fat for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions, making sure to save 1 cup of the cooking water. When the pasta is done add it and the one cup of cooking liquid to the pan with the leeks. Toss to combine; add the radicchio and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes. Stir in the cheese and let cook until the cheese starts to melt. Serve immediately!
Real life tastes so good…especially with some extra bacon in it.
This sounds delicious. I love leeks and bacon..still getting used to the radicchio
Yep, bacon should be on the bottom of the food pyramid – must eat lots! Looks delicious Heather! 😀 (not an onion fan, so I will look away from the leeks!)
Radi-who?? Um. Clearly, I have been sheltered wayy too long. I’m a big fan of pasta explosions in my mouth. In a good way, of course. 🙂
yum!!
Loving that shot of the uncooked pasta!
And you are right. Bacon is TOTALLY where its at. 😀
ohh I love the smoky bacon + bitter radicchio combo, so genius! 🙂
Can you come over and cook this for me now, I am too eggs osted (hee hee) to cook for myself! How on earth do you find time to cook and blog all this great food so often?! You are amazing! Lovely photos all the time too.
Robin Sue
aw, you’re too sweet! it definitely takes lots of planning, but totally worth it when it all turns out 🙂
Yummy! I love the simplicity (and the cheeeeeeeese)! 🙂
I am an odd one out and don’t really like bacon. Well, I love it IN things–so I would love this dish. But I can’t eat a slice of bacon by itself. It’s too salty. I love the flavor, I just wish it wasn’t so darn salty. That’s why I like it in things.. because the other stuff tones down the salt. Beautiful photos, woman!
love this post!
Yummy! I just tried leeks for the first time this spring. I enjoyed them but haven’t had any since; thanks for remind me!
I love bacon flavor added to meals… But lately I haven’t been into just eating it by the piece. Not sure what’s wrong?!
This dish looks great!
I definitely think I’m in love iwth this recipe (with GF noodles,…obvi :-)) Love you!!!!!!!!
I am a pasta LOVER, but I have to keep it to Brown Rice pasta with this wheat allergy over here! This looks fan-freaking-tastic my friend!!!!
xxoo
Looks amazing Heather!! I have yet to cook with leeks. Can’t wait to make this!
anything with bacon + leeks right now is on my radar 🙂
Bacon really does make everything better. I’ve never cooked with leeks, I should soon! And the radicchio is so pretty, I kinda want to cook with it just to have something purple on my plate 🙂
I sadly just had a conversation with a friend who told me she doesn’t like bacon in things. I was going to add it into a dish for a BBQ and when she told me she’d like it without bacon I was in shock. Seriously who doesn’t love bacon???? I don’t know if our friendship will withstand this travesty…
Love this combo. Delicious!
i don’t think i need to add my 2 cents on bacon. and this looks SO good. i almost got some leeks at trader joe’s yesterday then set them down. darn!
Looks amazing, Heather!
Mmmm…great combo. I love the bitterness of radicchio! Have you ever grilled it? It’s ridiculously good.