Pasta with Bacon and Leeks

After a very long hiatus, I've finally found the time to dedicate to my blog (and cooking!) My hubs and I had a very eventful Spring/early Summer - we put our house up for sale, packed, moved and unpacked all while I was traveling 4 nights/week and at one point worked 21 days straight with no day off. It was CRAZY! So now we are in the middle of Summer and enjoying our new house immensely. Therefore I figure it's time to get cooking again. Oh how I've missed it!!

I have a ton of recipes I will be sharing over the coming weeks, but here is one to get the ball rolling. As with most of my recipes this beauty is adapted from Pioneer Woman. I just love her. If you haven't checked out her website, it's a must. She has a great sense of humor.

This recipe is great because it cooks up quickly. Definitely what I would consider a quick and easy after work dinner. I liken the taste of this to Beef Stroganoff (no clue why). My hubs said it reminds him of Spaghetti Carbonara. In any case, it's yummy!

Prep Time - 10-20 minutes

Cooking Time - 15 minutes

Adapted From - Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

12 oz Pasta cooked Al Dente (reserve @ 1 cup of the pasta water)

3 oz thick sliced bacon or pancetta

3 small leeks or 1.5 large leeks

1/2 cup white wine (If you have dry wine that's best, I used a Sauvignon Blanc as that's what I had) - if you don't like wine, you can use Chicken Broth instead

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese, Shaved

Directions:

Cook pasta and while cooking begin steps below. Set aside cooked pasta but don't forget to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water (I usually ladle out and put the hot water in a measuring cup).

Slice leeks very thin. Chop bacon/pancetta and saute until fat is rendered and it starts to brown (I kept the heat at medium). Add sliced leeks and cook for 8 minutes. Pour in wine, then cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until reduced. Reduce heat to low, then pour in cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in Parmesan shavings. Toss in pasta, adding a little pasta water to thin as needed. Serve with Parmesan shavings over the top—delicious!

Enjoy!

~J