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Pasta » Rigatoni with Leeks & Bacon

Rigatoni with Leeks & Bacon

Published: May 22, 2019 · Modified: Jul 14, 2019 by Niki. About 3 minutes to read this article.

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Angled shot of creamy rigatoni with leeks

It’s always good to have a quick and easy pasta dish in your back pocket for those days when you need it. My rigatoni with leeks and bacon comes together in less than 40 minutes!

If you like onions then you are going to love leeks! They are vegetable related to onions, shallots, garlic, and scallions. Their flavor is milder than an onion and slightly sweet; the delicate flavor adds to dishes without overpowering. They are common in soups and quiches, but I like to use them in place of onions in pasta dishes or risottos.  

Three leeks standing on their roots

The first time I tried a recipe with leeks, I was confused when the recipe called for 3 leeks. When you go to purchase them you’ll see that they can be quite large. But most of the leek isn’t actually edible. The top dark green leaves of the leek are discarded because they can’t be eaten. Instead, the white and light green parts of the root are used for cooking.

To prep a leek, start by cutting off the green leaves and the roots. Slice the remaining root in half, lengthwise. Place each half cut side down, and slice into half moons. I prefer to slice my leeks pretty thin; typically ⅛ of an inch and no larger than ¼ of an inch. I find leeks cut to this size cook up nicely, and integrate better into dishes.

Overhead shot of leeks being cut on a cutting board and soaked in a bowl of water

The layers inside a leek typically get filled with dirt and sand, so you want to make sure you wash the sliced leeks thoroughly. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the sliced leeks. Stir them around gently then let them sit for about 10 minutes. The dirt and sediment will fall to the bottom of the bowl, while the leeks float. I like to remove the leeks from the bowl of water with a pasta spoon, then give them one last rinse in a colander. After that I throw them on a clean kitchen towel and carefully pat them dry.

Overhead shot of sliced leeks in a bowl of water

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you! It is easy to put together, and filled with flavor! Leeks love bacon and cream. You might be thinking this pasta is on the heavier side, but don’t worry, the dijon mustard balances out the richness of the bacon and cream to lighten the dish. Gruyere and fontina cheese melt together beautifully to add to the creaminess of the sauce. I finish it with pea shoots for a little sweetness and crunch.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you’d like to check out other leek recipes, scroll to the end of this post for some inspiration from other food bloggers.

Overhead shot of creamy rigatoni with leeks & bacon
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Overhead shot of creamy rigatoni with leeks & bacon

Rigatoni with Leeks & Bacon


  • Author: Nicole Cutchall
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 22 minutes
  • Total Time: 37 minutes
  • Yield: 2 to 4 servings 1x
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Description

Creamy spring pasta flavored with sweet leeks, salty bacon, and tangy dijon mustard


Scale

Ingredients

  • 4 slices uncooked bacon, diced
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 large leeks (or 3 small), thinly sliced and cleaned
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • 1 lb rigatoni pasta (fresh or dry)
  • ½ cup grated Gruyere cheese
  • ½ cup grated Fontina cheese
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • Small bunch of pea shoots (optional for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, cook pasta according to package instructions.
  2. Add the diced bacon to a large, cold skillet. Turn the heat to medium, and render the bacon until crispy, about 8-12 minutes. *See note
  3. Remove the bacon from the pan using a slotted spoon, and drain on a plate lined with a paper towel. Carefully drain all but 1 tbsp of bacon fat from the pan.
  4. Increase the heat to medium high. Add the unsalted butter to the bacon fat. Stir in the leeks and ¼ tsp kosher salt. Saute until soft, 3-5 minutes.
  5. Add garlic to the pan. Cook for 30 seconds.
  6. Stir in dijon mustard and thyme. Cook for 1 minute.
  7. Slowly stir in the heavy cream and ¼ tsp kosher salt. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium high heat, and cook for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. *See note
  8. Reduce the heat to low. Add the pasta to the sauce, along with the cooked bacon, gruyere and fontina cheese. Toss to coat the pasta and melt the cheese.
  9. Serve immediately. Garnish with pea shoots.

Notes

  • Starting the bacon in a cold pan and cooking over medium heat, will ensure the bacon fat renders slowly and cooks evenly.
  • Adding the cream slowly to the pan will allow it to come to temperature and thicken quicker. If you add the cream too quickly, the temperature in the pan will reduce and have to come back up before the cream and boil and thicken.
  • Category: Pasta
  • Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: leeks, garlic, rigatoni, heavy cream, pasta, pea shoots, dijon mustard, fresh thyme, creamy pasta, spring pasta, quick pasta dinner, gruyere cheese, fontina cheese

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Check out these leek recipes from other talented food bloggers!

  • What Annie’s Eating – Roasted Side of Salmon with Fennel + Grapefruit Slaw
  • Jessie Sheehan Bakes – No Knead Bread with Caramelized Leeks and Black Pepper
  • @farmandcoastcookery – Spring Fritata
  • Gobble The Cook – Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) with Leeks
  • Whatcha Cooking Good Looking? – Baked Bacon, Leek, and Tomato (BLT) Risotto
  • Bappy Girl – Poached Cod with Leeks in Peppered Milk
  • Jean Choi – Paleo & Keto Quiche with Smoked Salmon and Leeks
  • Baking The Goods – Leek Lemon & Thyme Focaccia
  • ¡Hola! Jalapeño- Chicken and Leek Soup with Lemon Carrot Top Pesto

Pasta creamy pasta, dijon mustard, fontina cheese, fresh thyme, garlic, gruyere cheese, heavy cream, leeks, pasta, pea shoots, quick pasta dinner, rigatoni, spring pasta

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  1. Squash Blossoms with Herbed Ricotta - clean plate clb says:
    July 14, 2019 at 7:56 am

    […] tomatoes and ricotta for a homemade tapas night with friends. They are an excellent appetizer for bacon & leek pasta, and would even go great with a fresh cherry lime […]

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Hello! My name is Niki. Welcome to Clean Plate Clb! I am so happy you are here!! I grew up a picky picky kid only to turn into a slightly less picky adult. I mostly survived on a diet of chicken fingers, buttered noodles, and hot dogs until I was in college at Penn State.

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I enjoyed the breakfast egg braid so much that I wanted to remake it to share and add my own special touches! It’s a flaky puff pastry breakfast braid stuffed with creamy scrambled eggs, crispy kale, salty bacon, and nutty gruyere. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Get the recipe from my profile link or head to cleanplateclb.com. I’m sharing this recipe as part of my friend Kendell’s Christmas Advent calendar! He’s posting a new holiday recipe every day; head over to @kendellkreations to check out all the recipes!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm team sides all the way! Especially when those sides include bacon 🥓 😀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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PS - I'm loving the night sky backdrop from @cblbackdrops. It is so gorgeous in this photo!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Instagram post 2185105317294404495_6896400480 What desserts are you making for your Thanksgiving table?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm thinking of bringing back these cream puffs stuffed with cranberry buttercream, but I could be persuaded to try something new :D⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Grab the recipe at cleanplateclb.com in the archives under dessert!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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One of the things that led to burn out for me was a disconnect between quality and quantity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I’ve always valued quality content and taking the time (I thought) to put my best work out there. But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in creating more content to keep pace with other food photographers. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I ended up with images that I liked but didn’t love. I saw my style starting to narrow because I knew I could produce a certain image in a short period of time. I was frustrated because I wasn’t progressing, but I wasn’t progressing because I was focused on the wrong thing!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The only way for me to move forward and continue to grow in this space is to put quantity aside and focus on the quality of my content. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This means I can’t keep pace with other food photographers. I may not be able to get out 3 posts per week or even 1 sometimes. But when I do post new content, it will be content that makes me proud. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The important thing to remember is your balance of quality and quantity needs to based on your own values and goals; not the values or goals of someone else. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My cauliflower mash got a facelift and a recipe update! The recipe is in the blog archives under side dishes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Instagram post 2182190737410615836_6896400480 I am BURNT OUT.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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How many times have you uttered that phrase, shoved it aside, and pushed through your to-do list?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I’ve been dodging burnout for the better part of 2019, but it finally caught up to me in early October in the form of a single thought - “I don’t like doing this anymore.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I was shooting a recipe and that thought left me instantly terrified. Food photography has always been my happy place; so when those feelings of disinterest snuck in, I knew I had hit the bottom of burnout. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Since that moment, I’ve been struggling to get motivated and focus on my goals. I disappeared from social media and my blog, and my to-do list has a nice layer of dust.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I wondered if I had made a mistake in throwing all my energy into food photography.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I had to make a conscious effort to slow down. I work full-time and I run my own business, so I need to cut myself some slack. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I’ve been tiptoeing slowly back into photography and blogging; working on tasks that interest me the most and not adhering to a strict schedule. Going back to basics! Reconnecting with my “why”, returning to my values, and brushing up on my skills. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I’ve been treading lightly and listening closely to my feelings because I want to be sustainable in this business for the long run. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This last month has sucked, but I’ve learned so many things! I’m excited to start sharing what I’ve been exploring. Burnout is real, but I think it’s avoidable. The way forward is to talk about it openly, honestly, and reframe the default definition of success. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#cleanplateclb #roastedbrusselsprouts #brusselsprouts #roastedveggies #brusselsproutswithbacon #firstweeat #foodbloggerpro #thefeedfeed #foodtographyschool #thebiteshot #bonappetitmag #saveurmag #learnfoodphotography #foodartblog #eatprettythings #foodphotographymagazine #moodyfood #darkfoodphoto #wellandgoodeats #seasonalproduce #eatseasonal
Instagram post 2181589735591760084_6896400480 I've been away from Instagram for a bit, and I plan to share more about why in another post. But first I want to introduce myself, because I realized I've never stopped to share my story.
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Hi there! I'm Niki & I'm the face behind Clean Plate Clb. I'm a self-taught home cook focused on scratch made recipes using real ingredients. .
When I say scratch made, I mean it! I make my own ricotta cheese, pasta, and sauces among other things. It's easier than you think and tastes so damn good!
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I fell in love with cooking in college while binge watching every cooking show the Food Network could throw at me. I'm a picky eater, so I dove into learning how to cook so I could make dishes with flavors I love. .
I live in the Philly suburbs with my husband, Zac. We have a labradoodle named Charlie, who is a complete goober, and a parrotlet named Stu. .
I hate sun showers and love street sweepers. I have an obsession with notebooks and I'm constantly getting a new one (even if the old one isn't finished..).
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There was a time when I was young that I wanted to be a photographer but I pushed it aside for a more "practical path" in analytics.
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I'm a natural introvert and I struggle to put myself out there for fear of rejection. But I'm tired of trying to be polished so I'm working on being more myself and letting my quirky personality shine 😃
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📷: @thebutterhalf_
Instagram post 2153074152051061261_6896400480 Happy 1 year anniversary @zac.cutchall !! I love you so much!
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You will forever be my always 🙂
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📷: @christiegreenphotography
Instagram post 2142305314767612858_6896400480 //New Post - Roasted Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette//⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Did you know that roasting cherry tomatoes at different oven temperatures can impact their flavor?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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High heat (about 400 degrees +) will caramelize the tomatoes, which leads to a sweeter flavor. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Lower heat (about 300 degrees) will roast the tomatoes slowly and reduce the quick caramelization that comes from higher temperatures. This preserves more of their natural flavor and keeps them from getting overly sweet. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I prefer mine roasted low and slow! Then I blend the roasted cherry tomatoes with some white wine vinegar & basil to make a creamy vinaigrette. It's packed with fresh flavors and super versatile! Great on salads, sandwiches, and pasta!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Get the recipe by clicking "latest blog post" from my link in profile or go to www.cleanplateclb.com⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Instagram post 2140138954518504853_6896400480 Everyone else on social media has been posting pumpkin flavored foods for weeks, and I'm over here like "Hey! Let's hang onto summer a little longer!"⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Preserve the last of your summer corn with my pickled corn recipe. Make it tonight as a topping for #tacotuesday :)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Get the recipe at my link in profile under "latest blog post" or go to www.cleanplateclb.com⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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