Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère

Name: Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 200g rigatoni; sea salt; 1 leek; olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped; 2 heaped tbsp low fat creme fraiche; 100g gruyere, grated; fresh cracked black pepper, to serve

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If you're looking for a rich, creamy, cheesy winter or early spring pasta dish made with just a handful of ingredients (we count 6, plus olive oil, salt and pepper!) you're going to love our recipe for Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta with Gruyère cheese. Short, fat rigatoni pasta shapes are tossed with a creme fraiche-spiked sauce of slow cooked leeks, the perfect pasta recipe for the hunger gap when fresh vegetables are a little thin on the ground.

Stone bowl of creamy leek pasta topped with grated cheese.

White shallow casserole dish of rigatoni tossed with cream and caramalised leeks and topped with grated cheese.

Believe it or not, you can make this rich, creamy Caramalised Leek Pasta in roughly 20 minutes!

A large leek (or a couple of smaller ones!) are cooked over a relatively high heat to get caramelised edges and a tender middle with plenty of garlic and a few anchovies for savoury depth, before creme fraiche, a generous handful of gruyère cheese and some of that lovely, starchy pasta cooking water is stirred through for a slightly Italian, slightly French inspired, totally luscious pasta dish we just know you're going to love!

Ingredients

rigatoni (or any other short chunky pasta shape)
salt
large leek (or two smaller ones!)
olive oil
garlic
anchovy fillets (these don't make the dish taste fishy, they just add an extra hit of umami - if you're using ones packed in salt rather than in oil, make sure you rinse them well before using!)
low fat creme fraiche (or regular creme fraiche, if that's what you've got open)
gruyere cheese (or another semi-mild hard cheese that grates and melts really well)
black pepper

Directions

Freshly cooked rigatoni pasta in a white colander.

Uncooked leeks in olive oil in a white shallow casserole.

Step 1

Start by getting the pasta onto the boil.

Step 2

Dice the leeks, add a generous glug of olive oil to a pan and fry on a relatively high heat until the edges char and they start to soften.

Garlic being added to slow cooked leeks in a shallow casserole.

Grated cheese and creme fraiche being stirred into slow cooked leeks.

Step 3

Add the minced garlic and stir through the anchovy fillets, pressing them into the pan so they melt down.

Step 4

Add a label of pasta water into the pan, bubble for a couple of minutes then turn the heat down and add the creme fraiche, followed by a handful of gruyere.

Close up of creamy leek rigatoni in a shallow casserole topped with grated cheese.

Plate of creamy leek pasta next to the shallow casserole of cooked pasta and a small bowl of grated cheese.

Step 5

Drain the pasta once al dente and stir through the pasta sauce.

Step 6

Serve up topped with lots more gruyere, a little black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make a vegetarian version of this Creamy Caramelised Leek Pasta?

Yes, just make sure you use plenty of cheese for that savoury depth, which is what you'll be missing with the anchovies. Also, you'll need to use a different hard cheese that grated and melts well. Traditional Gruyère, with the PDO label is not vegetarian-friendly.

Do I have to use creme fraiche? Will double cream work instead?

We like low fat creme fraiche for the extra tang it adds to the sauce, but if you only have cream open in the fridge a squeeze of fresh lemon should balance things out nicely.

What sort of pasta shapes would you recommend instead of rigatoni?

Happily this is one of those pasta recipes that will work with practically any pasta shape, long or short -- the caramalised leeks will be just as happy swirled into a forkful of spaghetti as they would tossed through fusilli.