Leek & Bacon with Pasta

This idea came originally from a Sainsburys pasta cookbook published in the late 80's but Husband & I have changed it considerably over the years. Very much a kitchen table kind of meal rather than something posh! Tastes pretty good without the bacon too, but I would add some marigold stock powder.

2 portions

Ingredients:
4 Leeks
1 pack of Dry Cured Bacon
Butter (about 1 ounce - but can work with much less if you are calorie counting)
1/2 glass White Wine or Cider
2 dessert spoons of Creme Fraiche (half fat version works too)
200g Dried Pasta
Grated Parmesan to serve (optional)

Method:
1. Chop bacon into bite size pieces & put in saute pan. Heat so that the fat is released. Add the butter so that it melts.
2. Chop up leeks roughly & add. Take the heat right down so that the leeks don't brown. Stir into the butter/bacon mixture.
3. Put the lid on the pan & let the leeks sweat for a bit. Make sure they don't brown!
4. Take the lid off after about 5-10 mins - the leeks should be nice & soft.
5. Add the wine/cider, stir & let the leek mixture absorb the liquid - they will now be more of a sauce than recognisable as chunks of leek.
6. Cook the pasta in the normal way.
7. Add the creme fraiche to the leek sauce.
8. Stir in the pasta & serve with the cheese on top. Good with lots of black pepper.

Variations:

• Use ham instead of bacon - but add at the end.
• Unsalted butter is a good option as the bacon will be salty.
• If using a non-dry cure bacon, cook separately, drain & add at the end as this type tends to release lots of salty water.
• Nice with a few mushrooms or peas added towards the end