A creamy and comforting quick Cheesy Leek and Bacon pasta recipe which is something you can prepare in advance and pop into the oven when you need to cook it. A great dish for dinner parties and very versatile if you want to change the ingredients.

Ingredients

220g Streaky Bacon
3 x Large Leeks, chopped
75g Butter
2 x Garlic cloves, minced
3 x Heaped tbsp plain flour
150g Grated medium strength white Cheddar Cheese
800ml Milk
350g Dried Pasta (fusilli or penne)
Powdered nutmeg to taste
Salt & Pepper
125ml Cream
2 x tbsp Philadelphia cream cheese
Parmesan cheese, finely grated or flaked
Breadcrumbs

Method

Start by boiling a pan of water and cooking the pasta for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, then set it aside in the baking dish.

At the same time fry the bacon until crispy and all the fat has rendered.

Chop the leeks into 1cm thick pieces. Add to the baking dish.

Next melt 25g of butter in a pan and use it to sweat the leeks on a low heat until they are soft. Do not burn them.

When done, add to the pasta and bacon.

To make the sauce, melt the 50g piece of butter in a saucepan and add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the flour and mix together. Cook for another minute.

Slowly add the milk bit by bit, whisking with a hand whisk to get rid of any lumps.

Cook until it starts to get thick, then add the cheddar cheese to the sauce, stirring all the time.

Finally, add the cream, the cream cheese and the nutmeg. Season to taste, mixing all the time.

Mix all the contents of the baking dish and add the sauce to the contents and stir properly to make sure the sauce settles to the bottom and covers the pasta.

Cover the top with breadcrumbs, and sprinkle the parmesan on the top.

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