Baconkaleandleeks Recipes

KALE WITH BACON

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring 1 in. of water to a boil. Add kale; cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; drain, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings. In the drippings, saute onions and garlic until onion is tender. , Drain the kale; stir into onion mixture. Add the salt, pepper and reserved bacon; heat through.

PASTA WITH BACON AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from the skillet.
• Add the leeks to the drippings in the skillet. Season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until it begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
• Add the pasta to the skillet along with the parmesan, half of the bacon and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat, adding enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen. To serve, top with the remaining bacon, more parmesan and parsley.

LEEKS WITH BACON & MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the bacon and fry for a few mins until golden. Add the thyme, mushrooms and leeks with seasoning (remember bacon can be salty), cover pan and cook on a low heat for 20-25 mins until leeks are tender.

CREAMY PAPPARDELLE WITH LEEKS AND BACON

Steps:

• Heat oil and butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring often, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, 5-8 minutes. Add leeks and season with salt. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, until leeks begin to brown, 5-8 minutes. Add cream, thyme, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, 5-8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
• Add pasta, Parmesan, and 1 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce and stir to coat. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta.

CHEESY LEEK & BACON PASTA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the leeks and 2 tbsp water, and cook for about 10 mins until very soft. Add the bacon, turn up the heat and fry until cooked.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions. Drain and reserve a mug of the cooking water.
• Spoon cheese into the leek and bacon mix, adding some of the reserved cooking water. Season and stir gently over a low heat until melted. Toss through the cooked pasta, adding a little more cooking water, if needed, to help the sauce coat the pasta.

BACON, KALE AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Slice the Leeks.
• If you have bought kurly kale that isn't trimmed, trim it now, disposing of any woody stalks.
• Chop the bacon if necessary. With buying the mis shapes packs of bacon, sometimes it does need to be chopped, other times it is already in small enough pieces.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and another tbsp in a large saucepan (large enough to hold all that kale).
• Cook the bacon in the frying pan until done to your liking, some people like it crisped, some prefer it just cooked enough.
• Cook the leeks in the saucepan, over a low heat, so that they soften rather than brown.
• About 4 or 5 minutes before you think the bacon is done, put 3/4 of the kale into the saucepan with the leeks, stir and pop a lid on until the bacon is finished.
• When the bacon is done, tip it into the saucepan with the leeks and kale and add the rest of the kale. Stir to mix, the heat will be enough enough to wilt that last addition of kale.
• The bacon usually provides enough saltiness and the kale enough pepperiness, but taste and season if you think it is necessary.
• You could use any other dark green leafy vegetable depending on what is on offer. Spinach, Spring greens, green cabbage, anything like that. And you could substitute onions for the leeks if you wished.

LEEK AND BACON QUICHE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour with butter, egg, salt and 1 tablespoon of the water. Mix lightly with your fingertips until pastry forms peasized pieces. You should be able to see chunks of fat, and the pastry should be moist enough to begin to stick together. If the pastry is too dry, add up to 2 more tablespoons of water.
• Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured work surface, dust with flour, and knead it until the pastry is smooth, about 3 to 4 times. Transfer to a plastic bag and form pastry into a disk. Refrigerate a minimum of 30 minutes, or as long as 3 days.
• Cook bacon in a skillet over low heat until tender, not crisp. Add leeks, salt and pepper, and saute until leeks are soft and bacon is crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain off excess fat, if any. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and arrange the rack in the middle of the oven. On a generously floured surface, roll pastry from center out, lifting pastry, turning it slightly, and occasionally flipping to prevent sticking. Roll pastry to 1/8inch thickness. Lightly butter and flour a 9inch pie pan and line with pastry, leaving about 1/4inch overhang for shrinkage. Pinch up excess pastry to form a rim and flute the edges. Prick the bottom all over with a fork.
• Line pastry with a sheet of parchment or aluminum foil larger than the pan, and fill with pie weights, rice, or beans. Bake about 20 minutes, until the edges begin to color. Remove the paper and weights, and spread the mustard over the bottom of the pastry. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly with the milk. Stir in bacon and cheese mixture. Pour the custard into the pie shell to within 1/4inch of the top of the crust. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until custard puffs. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or room temperature.

BACON AND LEEK QUICHE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and crumble when cool enough to handle.
• Saute leeks in the bacon fat over medium heat until soft, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Place pie crust in a glass, deep-dish pie pan. Spread leeks over the bottom of the crust, then sprinkle bacon crumbs over top.
• Whisk half-and-half and eggs together in a medium bowl. Toss Cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and flour together in a small bowl. Mix cheese mixture into the egg mixture, then pour into the pie crust. Top with tomato slices and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

QUICK KALE WITH BACON

Steps:

• Sauté bacon in large pot over medium heat until crisp and brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pot. Add shallots and garlic to drippings. Sauté over medium-high heat until tender, about 2 minutes. Add kale and broth. Cover and cook until kale wilts and is almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Uncover and cook until kale is tender and most of broth has cooked away, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer kale to bowl. Sprinkle with bacon and serve.

LEEKS 'N' BACON

Steps:

• *NOTE: Can use pepper bacon instead in which case you would omit the black pepper seasoning as indicated in the recipe directions.
• Discard green parts of leeks and thinly slice the white parts.
• In large saute pan on medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. DO NOT burn! Set aside on paper towel. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.
• Add the garlic and saute 30 seconds. Then add the leeks and celery sauteeing another 4-5 minutes or until softnened, stirring often.
• Crumble the bacon and stir into the leeks. Season with salt and pepper to taste.