Big fat leek spreading
As the first glimmers of spring arrive in pockets of Victoria, I still have a long wait before I can enjoy the “classic” spring vegetables. Our little farm is situated atop a hill and, while the soil is fabulous and the water plentiful, being more than 750 metres above sea level has made me rethink how I grow my vegetables. It means I will have to wait until November for our asparagus and that my peas and broad beans won’t start until mid- to late October but will go on far longer than those of most of my lower-lying gardening friends. The classic herbs of early spring – chervil, chives and the first parsley and dill – will make an earlier appearance in the hothouse, but, like the peas, it will be well into October before they flourish outside.
My favourite vegetable – outside of early autumn, when there are too many things to choose from – would have to be the leek. There is a gentleness and softness to leeks that transforms many dishes. Think of a leek and Gruyere quiche, a double-baked leek and goat’s cheese soufflé, or adding leeks cooked gently in butter to a custard for a savoury bread and butter pudding. All of these dishes require the leeks to be washed well, chopped finely and cooked slowly and gently in butter. But the good news is leeks are flourishing right now.
The following recipe takes a very different approach to the leeks, cooking them en papillote – that is, wrapped in paper. The leeks are split and cleaned, laid on paper, then stuffed and wrapped in a paper pouch. Cooking en papillote always has a sense of prestidigitation for me. First, you hide the contents in a paper bag, subject it to the heat of an oven and then, voilà, out comes something that is a combination of baked, steamed and poached, all at once. These leeks are delicious on their own, or make a wonderful side dish to fish or chicken. •