Best Leek Radicchio Sauce Recipes

LINGUINE WITH LEEKS, RADICCHIO, AND WALNUT PESTO

Steps:

• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add leeks; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Puree parsley, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 cup walnuts, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons oil in mini processor until coarse puree forms. Season pesto with salt and pepper. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta, pesto, and radicchio to leeks; toss, adding cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry. Garnish with walnuts and shaved Parmesan.

PASTA WITH RADICCHIO SAUCE

Steps:

• Remove core and outer leaves of radicchio, and chop fine.
• In saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons butter, and saute radicchio unitl wilted. Add 2 ounces water and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste radicchio. If radicchio is no longer bitter, let it simmer until soft and water has evaporated. If it remains bitter, pour off excess water, add another 1/4 cup of water and simmer until it is soft and water evaporates. The double simmering should remove any bitterness.
• Reduce heat under radicchio to very low, add cream and cook until sauce is thick and reduced, about 10 to 20 minutes.
• While sauce is cooking, prepare the penne, linguini or other pasta. When ready, drain it and mix with sauce. Add Parmesan and 2 tablespoons butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

LEEK-RADICCHIO SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat; add 3 sliced leeks (white and light green parts only) and season with salt and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 minutes. Toss with 12 ounces cooked rigatoni, 1 cup pasta-cooking water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar. Add 1 small head sliced radicchio and 6 ounces cubed fontina; toss until the cheese melts. Top with chopped toasted hazelnuts.

GRILLED LEEKS WITH ROMESCO SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the romesco sauce. Preheat the broiler, and cover a baking sheet with foil. Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet, and place under the broiler at the highest setting. Broil for two to four minutes until charred on one side. Turn over, and broil on the other side for two to four minutes until charred. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Peel and core.
• Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and drop in the garlic cloves. When the garlic is chopped and adheres to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides. Add the toasted almonds (or almonds and hazelnuts), bread and chili powder or flakes to the bowl. Process into a paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the pepper, tomatoes, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. With the machine running, add the vinegar and olive oil in a slow stream. Process until well mixed, then scrape into a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt as desired. If possible, allow the sauce to stand for an hour at room temperature before using.
• Cut away the dark green ends of the leeks. Trim the root end. Cut fat leeks lengthwise into quarters, and rinse thoroughly under cold water to wash away any sand. If your leeks are 1/2 inch in diameter they needn't be cut; if they are between 1/2 inch and an inch, you can just cut them in half.
• Bring an inch of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer. Place the leeks in the steamer, and steam 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
• Prepare a medium-hot grill. Grill the steamed leeks for five minutes, turning often, just until grill marks appear. Remove from the heat, and serve with romesco sauce.