Cheesy Leeks
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 large leeks, dark green leaves trimmed, light green and white part quartered lengthwise, sliced thin, and thoroughly rinsed and drained
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups grated extra-sharp grated cheese
- ½ cup dry bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoon of the butter in a microwave-safe 2-quart casserole (such as a 9-by 9-inch pan) Add leeks, along with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper; toss to coat. Bake, stirring at 15 minutes, until tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Leave oven at 400 degrees.
- Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour and then broth and milk; continue to whisk until sauce thickens, a couple of minutes. Stir in cheddar, and then stir sauce into leeks.
- Mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan, thyme, and remaining 1 tablespoon of butter (melted); sprinkle evenly over leeks. Bake until leeks are bubbly and breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve.
Mmmm, will try these soon. If I use fresh thyme would I just double it?
My rule of thumb for substituting fresh herbs for dried is to triple them, so I’d go with 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme. And BTW, I think substituting fresh thyme for dried is a splendid idea.
These leeks looks so good. I am trying to figure out how to lighten them up a little, as I lost 10 lbs and have 20 more to go! I tossed leeks in chicken soup recently and it somehow seemed much tastier than the usual onions…
Thanks for the inspiration!
Becca,
When cooking the leeks you could reduce the butter to 1 tablespoon. We initially tried 1 cup of cheese in the sauce (but wanted it cheesier) so I know 1 cup works just fine. You could also use 2% evaporated milk for the milk in sauce. Good luck and congratulations on your weight loss!
I grew leeks this year just to make this recipe and harvested 4 of them tonight. Pure heaven, that is what this recipe is!
Just made this yesterday for the first time. It rocked! Adding it to my recipe folder. Thanks!
I added a bunch of asparagus to this because I only had 1 leek from my CSA basket. It was absolutely delicious!