Leeks and Walnuts

 

Ingredients

15g butter or vegan margarine
3 leeks, washed and finely sliced
30g broken walnuts
20g lemon thyme, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

01

In a large frying pan, gently heat the butter or margarine and add the leeks.

 

02

Gently sauté the leeks for five minutes then add the walnuts and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

 

03

Finally add the lemon thyme, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve .

 

 

Leek and butternut squash cannelloni

Less than 30 mins preparation time

10 to 30 mins cooking time

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
• 4 leeks, finely sliced
• 175g/6oz ricotta cheese
• 75g/2¾oz pecorino, finely grated, plus extra to garnish
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 250g/9oz roasted cubes of butternut squash
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 pieces fresh pasta (approximately 13cm x 10cm/5in x 4in)

For the sauce

• 150ml/5½fl oz white wine
• 350ml/12fl oz double cream
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the leeks for five minutes, or until softened. Drain the leeks in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving any juices collected.
3. Mix the drained leeks, ricotta, pecorino, thyme and butternut squash together in a bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Spoon some of the mixture onto one of the pieces of pasta, roll into a cylinder and place into a baking dish. Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets. (Make sure the pasta cylinders are in a single layer in the baking dish.)
5. Heat the reserved leek juices and white wine in saucepan until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half. Add the cream and garlic, return the mixture to the boil and continue to cook until reduced by half.
6. Spoon the sauce over the pasta, sprinkle over more grated pecorino and bake 15-20 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through