Braised Leeks
This recipe is for another often-overlooked vegetable–leeks. Not often seen outside of potato soup, leeks are a fantastically versatile vegetable that taste like a million bucks but cost pennies. Braising them in a mixture of broth and a little cream both melts and caramelizes them into a truly addictive vegetable dish. I serve these with just about any holiday meal and they pair wonderfully with nearly any kind of roast meat or vegetable main dish. Make a ton, as leftovers reheat just fine and are fantastic chopped up and served on toast with scrambled eggs, stirred into mashed potatoes for a version of colcannon or just eaten cold straight out of the fridge. You really can’t go wrong.
This recipe doesn’t really have any measurments, as it’s more method and guideline than traditional recipe. I can usually fit between six and eight halved leeks into a 9×13 if I’m using one, or about the same if they are on the smaller side in a cast iron skillet. My preferred vessel is the iron skillet, as it goes straight from stove to oven and lends itself to deeply caramelized leeks. If you don’t have one or can’t use it due to a glass cooktop, use a heavy bottomed pan to brown the leeks and transfer them to a glass or metal casserole dish for their stint in the oven. I like to use tongs to swirl them into circles when transferring to a serving dish for holidays as it makes them easier to serve at the table as well as adding a pleasing aesthetic to the dish itself.
Braised Leeks
Ingredients:
Leeks
Olive oil
Chicken or Vegetable broth
Heavy Cream
Directions:
Clean leeks by trimming off root end but not enough that they fall apart. Trim the dark green leaves off the top, leaving the white and light green. Split the leeks down the middle and rinse under running water, being sure to get into all the layers to rinse all the sand out. Drain in a colander as you go. When all leeks are cleaned, bring a large, heavy-bottomed/oven safe pan to high heat with some olive oil. Throw in the leeks and brown a bit, turning frequently (tongs work best here). When browned to your satisfaction but not cooked through, pour broth into the pan to a depth of about a half inch or so. Mix in a few tablespoons of cream if you’re willing, but NOT fat-free half and half or milk–they curdle. Turn leeks and swish around a bit to evenly coat in broth/cream mixture and sprinkle with a little herb seasoning if desired. Place the pan in a 400 degree oven for 25-40 minutes, turning the leeks once or twice to promote even carmelization and redistribute the sauce. The leeks are done when soft, caramelized and most of the sauce is absorbed. Remove from oven and let cool a bit–this will be harder to do once you’ve tasted them–and serve as desired.
Notes:
-This method works wonders on other vegetables as well. Most notable of the ones I’ve tried are fennel and brussels sprouts. For fennel, slice the bulb into roughly half inch thick slices and chop into roughly similar size chunks. For sprouts, halve or quarter them if they are large. Brown and braise as you would with the leeks.
