In a recent column, I described how the past year had made me a more flexible cook: more democratic, less judgmental. It got me thinking generally about the way certain vegetables are described, the adjectives they are often associated with. Why is an aubergine deemed “mighty,” for example, while leeks are often prefaced with the word “humble?”
I’ve never really held up such labels, but now more than ever, as we’re all making as much as we can from the groceries we have at home, I want to create space to move beyond these distinctions. My love for all things aubergine may indeed be “mighty,” but my enthusiasm for the “humble” leek is anything but modest.
The star of this dish, leeks have an amazing ability to transform from one thing (when raw) to another (when cooked), something they share with their fellow alliums: onions, shallots and garlic.
Think about garlic. When raw, a single, minced clove is harsh and metallic. A little goes a long way in a dressing. Compare this, then, to the 10 cloves of garlic in this confit leeks recipe. On the other side of a low-and-slow cooking process, these cloves are sweet and mellow enough to eat whole. The difference between these two outcomes makes me think that a more suitable adjective for any allium - if pressed to label - would be “magical.”
What feels like magic, like alchemy, is practically explained. Alliums store their energy in polysaccharides, which are chains of monosaccharides, or simple sugars. Once subjected to heat, these chains start to break down, and the longer and slower the cooking, the more caramelized, intense and flavourful these sugars will be.
Keeping the cloves whole also means that the sulfurous compounds in a garlic clove (or any allium) remain intact. An onion sitting whole on your kitchen counter doesn’t make you cry, remember. It’s only once a knife cuts through these compounds, activating and releasing them, that the tears will come.
The more chilled, quieter member of the allium family, leeks won’t ever make you cry. Rather, they may dazzle with their transformative abilities. Eating thick slices of raw leek is never going to be a winning idea, but those same slices are meltingly, magically tender and sweet when roasted slowly under a blanket of olive oil.
Alliums’ potential is often harnessed to great effect for the background notes of a dish. Consider chopped onion or crushed garlic, both of which begin the story of so many soups, stews and sauces. Or those very leeks, which can bring a quiet comfort to a cheesy pie or tart. In this recipe, on the other hand, alliums are front and center, with leeks standing upright, pert and proud, and calling unapologetic attention to themselves.
Here, too, they add “versatile” to their credentials, showing what can happen when they’re cooked, then blitzed with a little cream, mustard and lemon juice. Other adjectives, comforting, magical, nurturing,will naturally fall in line at this point.
There is enough going on here for the leeks to be served as they are, spooned over a (humble?) baked potato or alongside a (mighty?) roast chicken. But, as is, they’re humble and confident enough to pair with another so-called humble thing: the wholesome, hefty and toothsome lentil.
Recipe: Confit Leeks With Lentils, Lemon and Cream
Serves four
Total time: 2 hours
Ingredients
5 medium leeks (about 1kg), trimmed and washed, white and light greens cut into 2-centimeter-thick rounds (about 620g)
10 garlic cloves, peeled
10 fresh thyme sprigs
Sea salt and black pepper
200ml extra-virgin olive oil
150g dried Puy lentils, washed
100ml double cream
2 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
75ml fresh lemon juice (from 2 medium lemons)
3 tbsp roughly chopped parsley leaves
3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh dill leaves
3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Method
1. Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. If necessary, soak and carefully rinse the leek rounds in a large bowl of water to get rid of any excess grit. Drain, then cautiously pat dry, keeping the rounds intact.
3. Add the leeks, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper to a 12-by-8-inch/30-by-20-centimeter baking dish. Mix gently to combine, then pour the oil on top. Arrange the leeks cut-side up, then cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
4. Remove the baking dish from the oven and gently turn the leeks using two forks. Cover again with foil and return to the oven to bake until completely softened, about 35 minutes more. Turn the oven temperature up to 200 degrees Celsius.
5. As the leeks bake, fill a medium saucepan about two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a boil over high. Add the lentils and cook until just tender but not at all mushy, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
6. When ready, remove the confit leeks from the oven and transfer 100g of the cooked leeks plus five of the garlic cloves to a bowl for the leek cream. Add the cooked lentils to the remaining leeks in the baking dish along with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper; mix gently to combine. Cover again with the foil and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and leave to settle for 10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs.
7. While the lentils bake with the leeks, make the cream: Add reserved leeks and garlic to a food processor along with the cream, mustard, one tablespoon lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon of salt; blitz until smooth.
8. When ready, stir the remaining four tablespoons lemon juice and the chopped herbs into the lentil and leek mixture. Transfer to a rimmed platter and serve with the leek cream in a bowl alongside. - NYT.
