Cook with Jamie
Roasted baby leeks with thyme
A lovely late-spring to summer side
20 mins
Super easy
serves 4
About the recipe
Baby leeks have a lovely sweet flavour and when roasted become beautifully caramelised.
Recipe From
Ingredients
20 baby leeks
olive oil
red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
Top Tip
I like to serve 4 or 5 baby leeks per person, depending on their size. When I have friends round for dinner, I do everything in the method below in advance apart from roasting them, so all I need to do is flash them in the oven for 10 minutes.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
- Lightly trim both ends and peel back the first or second layer of leaves and discard. Drop the leeks in a pan of boiling salted water for 2 to 3 minutes to soften – this is called blanching.
- Drain them well (if there's too much water in them they won't roast properly) and toss in a bowl with a good lug of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, the chopped thyme leaves and the garlic.
- Arrange the leeks in one layer in a baking tray or earthenware dish and roast in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes until golden and almost caramelized. Keep your eye on them – I've seen many chefs burn baby leeks when cooking them this way!
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