Cheesy Leeky Bake
The ULTIMATE comfort side dish you’ve been searching for.
What makes this so good? Well, first of all you’ve got three different types of cheese in this dish – need I say more? We’ve got gruyere, cheddar and mozzarella oozing throughout and I’ve yet to meet a cheesy recipe that hasn’t been good. This is no exception. Secondly, it’s got leeks so you’re getting one of your five a day and I legit LOVE leeks. I genuinely feel it is such an underrated veg and should be celebrated and used more.
I also found that this was a really good recipe to make if I wanted my brother and sister to eat some greens without them properly realising. It always helps when you can make a crowd pleaser.
If you’ve got any leeks leftover, give my fennel sausage pasta a go. This includes confit leeks and OMG it’s a game changer. We all need to confit our leeks I’m telling you.
Ingredients
- 4-5 large King Edward potatoes, peeled and sliced to 1.5cm thickness
- 2 leeks, chopped to 1 inch thick
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/2 banana shallot, finely chopped (optional)
- 50g salted butter
- 50g plain flour
- 300ml whole milk
- 100ml single cream
- 80g grated Gruyère cheese
- 100g grated cheddar
- 2 handfuls of grated cheddar and mozzarella (the pre grated stuff)
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Parboil the potato slices in salted water until falling off the end of a knife. Drain and leave to the side.
- In the same pan add the oil and get onto a high heat. Add the leeks and cook until golden. Then remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Get the oven on to preheat now at 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/Gas 6.
- In the same pan (saving some washing up here ?) turn the heat down slightly and add the butter, shallot and garlic.
- Once the butter is foamy, add the flour and cook this out until it forms almost a dough.
- Mix the milk and cream together in a jug and then pour a little at a time into the butter/flour mix constantly. This should take a good 7-10 minutes.
- Once all the liquid is in add the grated Gruyère and cheddar, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large enough ovenproof dish, add half the potatoes and half the leeks and cover with half the sauce mix and then do the same again.
- Cover with the remaining cheese then very loosely place some foil on top, don’t let it touch the cheesy top.
- Then place in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Then remove the foil and cook for a further 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.