Leek Pasta: who loves ya baby?

If you eat alone often, it’s easy to get careless with how you eat. Eating at the computer? Guilty. Eating at the TV? Guilty. Eating while reading a magazine? Guilty.

Which of us doesn’t know that’s not a good idea? I mean, if we care enough about food to select the best ingredients, seek out great recipes and cook them with care, why wouldn’t we care about how we eat them? When we serve a meal to friends, don’t we make place settings at the table, get out a cute tablecloth or placemats and use clean glasses?

Is that only because we are honoring the food or are we honoring the friend? Or both? I think for me it is definitely both. I would never dish up a bowl of pasta and hand it to a friend saying, “Here. Go eat it wherever you like. You’ll find a fork in the drawer.” So why do I feed myself that way?

I can’t diet because I don’t care enough about myself to do it for me. I have to be very self centered to dedicate all that attention to such a thing. But I think less of myself because I am overweight ever since I quit smoking and I am afraid the weight is starting to feel right at home. I’ve even developed several weight induced health problems and I still was only able to diet long enough to lose 5 pounds. Crap.

So today I decided to start treating myself like someone special in hopes I can be hoodwinked into believing it. I made a dish I like a lot. I set the table the way I would for anyone else in the world. I opened a bottle of wine– the first since I returned home on 29 September. (I am not drowning my troubles in liquor; wine with meals is just normal and usual here.) Who is really your best friend forever? (Hint: it is not Marc Jacobs.) Be nice to yourself.

Penne ai Porri e Pecorino

1/2 cup thinly sliced leek
1 Tablespoon olive oil
a pinch of red pepper flakes, large or small depending on whether yours are HOT or hot
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1+ ounce (30+ g) medium pecorino cheese, grated coarsely: medium pecorino cheese means not pecorino fresco nor one of the very fancy really aged ones, but just a normal sort of pecorino. I can’t recommend much of the pecorino romano I found in the US. Better to go to someplace where they let you taste what they have and select one that still has some butteriness, but also has some body.
Begin by putting the pasta water on to boil.
Slice the leeks about 1/8″ thick– that’s really thin. Heat a heavy frying pan big enough to hold the amount of pasta you are cooking, and when it is hot add the oil. Sauté the leeks, the red pepper and add a bit of salt. By now the pasta water ought to be boiling, so throw in the pasta and a small handful of salt. Stir the leeks around until they start becoming a bit browned, then add the cream. It will get quite thick very quickly. Ladle a bit of pasta water into it so that it is the consistency of thin cream, and add more later if necessary to keep it that way. Check for salt at some point.
As soon as the pasta is done just to chewy, more than what you think is al dente, REALLY al dente, drain the pasta and toss it into the frying pan of sauce, then add the grated pecorino over and stir around briefly, maybe half a minute. Serve while smoking hot. Fresh ground black pepper might be nice.

It’s not much. It’s just a different way of looking at the same things.

This week, Presto Pasta Night is at “Eats Well with Others” which is an exceptionally nice title for a blog! Go see what she eats well.