Leek vinaigrette and open pasta

Leeks are wonderful - cheap and tasty, humble and trusty - they loose any allium harshness given a quick poach. I followed Simon Hopkinsons's directions from his Roast Chicken and Other Stories book in pairing them with boiled egg. He suggested grating the egg but I just sliced it.

Very retro dish this one, and incredibly tasty. The vinaigrette is a simple one with lots of Dijon mustard and red-wine vinegar and thinned with a little water.

Given  a post-Ridley Road glut of tomatoes and peppers (this time cherry toms and those small, very sweet orange pointed peppers) I opted to roast them and make an open, messy pasta dish with some lasagna sheets.

The veg was roasted for fifty odd minutes with a lick of olive oil and some garlic. Once nice and soft and crinkly the tomatoes were squashed with a fork to make a sauce and Parmesan grated in. This gives a wonderfully savoury sauce to hold the larger pieces of pepper. It was then layered up with the pasta.

It looks nicer a bit mashed up really. Some capers and olive oil and then you're ready to go! Wicked taste.

PS Used leftover roasted veg to make lunches for the week.

Added to bulgar (such an amazing grain - the perfect mouthfeel mix of nutty chew and gluten squidge and healthy to boot!) with dried chilli, green olives, the much-loved preserved lemon, parsley, leftover poached leek and a few mushrooms. Given sufficiently robust seasoning and some strong flavours such as olives or capers bulgar can complement anything and makes a great, cheap lunch.