Hi

We've been given some leeks today. I've never cooked them before. Any ideas please for some simple quick recipes?

Butternut squash and leek soup:

1 whole garlic head
4 teaspoons olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced leek (about 4 large)
4 cups (3/4-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 medium)
2 cups water
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic, squash, 2 cups water, broth, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Place half of squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over the opening in the blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture.

Wine note: The creamy texture of the pureed soup matches well with a plump but crisp Chardonnay like J.J. Vincent Bourgogne Blanc ($15). It's suitably rich, round, and fruity, with gently buttery flavors and good acidity to balance the natural sweetness of the squash. -Jeffery Lindenmuth

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 167(19% from fat); FAT 3.5g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 144mg; SODIUM 351mg; FIBER 5.3g; IRON 3.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.5g

Or, if you are vegetarian but not vegan, leeks make a GREAT component of a frittata filling. I posted a frittata recipe on the boards recently that is flexible and adaptable to anything so long as you eat eggs!

This is a super simple recipe that I've been meaning to try as soon as I get my hands on some leeks: http://vegancore.blogspot.com/2007/0...leek-soup.html

I love potato leek soup.

My SO loves the following recipe. He uses it as a touchstone for all other recipes (e.g., "this is good, but not as good as the fritatta").

Fritatta with Leeks, Turkey Kielbasa, and Goat Cheese
5 oz leeks (about 1 large leek, white part only)
3 oz diced red pepper (about 1/2 cup)
8 oz turkey kielbasa
6 oz lite goat cheese, crumbled
4 eggs
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp each basil, oregano, and/or thyme
1/2 tsp salt

Spray a 9-in pie pan or 8-in square casserole with cooking spray and wipe off excess. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute leeks, red pepper, and turkey kielbasa over medium high heat until leeks and red pepper are just tender (there will be just enough fat in the kielbasa that you don't need to add oil or cooking spray). Pour into prepared pie pan. Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

In medium bowl, beat together eggs, evaporated milk, mustard, worcestershire sauce, spices, and salt. Pour over vegetables and cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until center is just set. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes, then cut into wedges.

Makes 4 servings at 260 calories per serving, 13g fat, 5g sat. fat, 265mg cholesterol, 1140mg sodium, 12g carbs, 1g fiber, 7g sugar, 22g protein. (Assuming you use light goat cheese/chevre that is 35 calories per oz and turkey kielbasa that is 45 calories per oz. If you use regular goat cheese that is 80 calories per oz, it is 320 calories per serving. But if you can find the light chevre--I get mine at Trader Joe's--I recommend using it. You can't taste the difference between it and regular goat cheese).

Thanks everyone

I've recently made roasted leeks with zucchini, it was pretty good.

I've never tried any leek-specific recipes. I just sometimes substitute leeks for onions in my usual dishes.

I wanted to help adapt this recipe to be vegetarian for anyone who may want to make it because it looks really good:

Instead of the Turkey Kielbasa you can use Tofurky Sausages (the sundried tomato kind would be great in this recipe!).

Instead of the Worcestershire sauce, you could use "Wizard's Organic Wheat Free Vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce".