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Leek and bacon pasta

A regular midweek meal in my house with simple but tasty flavours and a crispy topping

  • Serves4-5
  • 1 hour
  • 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6

Emily's option

If you're not keen on leeks these could be swapped with 250g broccoli. Equally, if you're a mushroom lover chuck some in!

Ingredients

  • 2 leeks
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
  • 250g gluten-free pasta
  • 50g butter
  • 50g gluten-free plain flour
  • 700mL milk
  • 2 tsp gluten-free Dijon mustard
  • 25g gluten-free breadcrumbs
  • 125g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan, and gently cook the leeks for 6-8 minutes until soft; remove and set aside.

2 Fry the chopped bacon until crispy, then set aside. Cook the pasta for 5 minutes, drain, and then return to the pan. You can start making the sauce once your pasta is cooking.

3 Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the gluten-free flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Over a very low heat, gradually stir in the milk. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring continuously, until smooth and thickened. Stir in the mustard and half the cheese, then season to taste.

4 Add the leeks and bacon to the pasta, stir well, pour over the sauce, then toss together to coat. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish.

5 Mix together the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese, season with black pepper and scatter over the top of the pasta. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling around the edges.