It's been a weird week, foodwise.
Between preparing for an exam and my wife's long hours preparing for her musical, we didn't have a lot of time to have regular meals, which meant a lot of takeout. Then, come Thursday, my parents arrived and started taking us out, which meant a quick snap from cheap takeout to fine dining. It all left me feeling a bit of digestive whiplash, so come Sunday night, it was time to cook something.
Of course, given that I knew this week is coming, I hadn't bought groceries this week, but I did spy some leeks we had in the fridge, intended for a dish I never got around to last week. After a quick check on the shelf life of fresh leeks, I had my featured fresh ingredient. Plus, my mom has started baking bread and had given me a loaf.
So that's how we end up here. I had a few ideas to combine; Otto's "lilies" bruschetta and Po's white bean version, and brought it together with some other pantry staples: pimentón and pecorino cheese.
It's simple, it's easy, it required nothing out of the house, and it was a strong-flavored, vegetarian Sunday night dinner.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
3 leeks, sliced thin.
1 can white beans, drained.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pimentón
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes
You'll also need good, dense, chewy bread in some form, sliced and lightly toasted.
Procedure:
Heat olive oil in a skillet, and add the leeks. Add salt, pepper, and chili flakes, a pinch of each. Cook until softened over low heat—about ten minutes. Add the drained beans, and stir to combine. Continue to cook for about five minutes, until the beans are warmed up. Turn off heat, and stir in the cheese. Add the pimentón. Spoon over toasted bread. If you've got it, top it off with truffle oil—real truffle oil, only.
