made by Emily
This recipe is rich and delicious comfort food, not for the dieters.... But for once in a while it's totally worth it. It's so good. This is from the Pioneer Woman website, which I love. Her recipes are great, and she's so entertaining! I love her humor. Anyway, I only altered it slightly because I wanted to make this slightly "lighter", haha, which is funny to say when we're talking about a pasta recipe with bacon and cream and cheese.... so there's nothing light about it really, except that I wanted to remove some of the pancetta grease from the pan before cooking the leeks. Otherwise it's pretty much the same idea.
You'll Need:
10 oz bowtie pasta
1/2-3/4 lb pancetta, chopped small (or you can slice it large as in my picture, and break it up after cooking when it's crispy - I hate cutting pancetta!)
3-5 leeks, cleaned well and sliced into small pcs (5 thin leeks or 3 fat leeks)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup white or red wine (I used red because that's all I had, Pioneer Woman uses white)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh Parmesan to sprinkle on top
S & P to taste
10 oz bowtie pasta
1/2-3/4 lb pancetta, chopped small (or you can slice it large as in my picture, and break it up after cooking when it's crispy - I hate cutting pancetta!)
3-5 leeks, cleaned well and sliced into small pcs (5 thin leeks or 3 fat leeks)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup white or red wine (I used red because that's all I had, Pioneer Woman uses white)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh Parmesan to sprinkle on top
S & P to taste
To Make:
Start pasta water. Cook pasta til al dente, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, and drain the pasta.
While waiting for pasta water to boil, cook pancetta on medium heat in a large frying pan or deep pot to avoid grease splatter (if you have a metal splatter shield that helps avoid mess/burn).
Start pasta water. Cook pasta til al dente, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, and drain the pasta.
While waiting for pasta water to boil, cook pancetta on medium heat in a large frying pan or deep pot to avoid grease splatter (if you have a metal splatter shield that helps avoid mess/burn).
Toss so all sides cook til crispy brown looking. Dry on paper towels and set aside.
Wipe pan almost clean with paper towels, leaving at most a tablespoon of grease in the pan. Add leaks, olive oil and butter, and cook 5 minutes or so. Add wine and stir, scrape down the pot to get all the flavors incorporated. Cook for another minute, then turn heat off and add cream.
Keep pan on burner, just turn the heat off while you stir in the cream. Add cooked pasta and pancetta to the pan with leeks and toss to coat everything. If it seems dry, you can add a little of the reserved pasta water.
Serve with fresh grated parmesan on top - Mmmm. This dish tastes good room temp too.
