Monday Recipe - Pasta with Leek White Wine Sauce

I cooked this last night and I think it turned out really well. I was going to add some chicken to give it some protein, but then forgot, but you could easily cut the chicken into small chunks, cook in salt and pepper, and add it to the leeks. I found that I was hungry fairly quickly after eating this, since it didn't have any protein.

I've just started getting into leeks - I made some cauliflower leek soup recently that turned out really well (as long as I remembered not to put too much liquid in it - that batch came out like milky cauliflower). So I thought I'd try this one. Leeks are very tasty - not quite as strident as onions, but a nice bold flavor nonetheless. It's not exactly leek season (that's more springtime), so I'm wondering how much better they'll be if I cook them next spring!

Some of the health benefits of leeks (like onions and scallions, since they're related) - raising good cholesterol and lowering bad cholesterol, protection against ovarian cancer, and stabilizing blood sugar levels.

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Pasta with Leek White Wine Sauce
4 medium leeks (about 2 lbs)
Cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil, but olive or canola oil works perfectly fine too)
~1/2C white wine
2-3T chopped parsley
1/2C grated parmesan (give or take)
1 lb pasta (when I made this recipe, I only actually used about 1/2-3/4lb of pasta, but it depends on what ratio you like of pasta to sauce)
Salt and pepper

Cut off the tough green tops of the leeks and peel away the outside layer. Clean the stalks, making sure there's no dirt in between the layers. Cut in half lengthwise and then slice again into thin strips. Put oil and leeks in a pan and saute until soft (if the leeks start to brown, turn the heat down). This may take 5-10 minutes. While this cooks, set a pot of water to boil for the pasta.

Add wine and continue to cook until wine cooks down a bit. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve over pasta and sprinkle with parmesan.

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