Leek and white wine Spaghetti with crispy ham shards

September is a big harvest month in Luxembourg, and for Luxembourg’s winemakers, the grape harvest is now imminent. The regional climate is favourable to white grape varieties like Rivaner, Riesling, Elbling, Auxerrois, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Luxembourg also produces excellent Crémant, which can, in my opinion, easily rival proper Champagne! In order to honour our winemakers, I’ve teamed up with Le Moulin to create a pasta with a Luxembourgish white wine sauce. Paired with creamy leeks and crispy salty ham shards, this makes for a real September treat!

 

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Ingredients

4 slices of Luxembourgish dry-cured smoked ham
1 large leek
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
250g Le Moulin Spaghetti
30g butter
75ml Luxembourgish Elbling wine
50ml cream
zest of ½ lemon
20g pine nuts, toasted
parmesan, to serve

Method

Serves 2 – Prep: 30 min

Preheat oven to 180C fan. Cut the ham slices in half and lay them flat out on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 12 minutes, then take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Trim the leek and cut off the dark green top, discard. Cut the leek into quarters lengthwise, then cut into slices so that you end up with approximately 250g. Put in a colander and wash under a running tap. Peel and finely chop the shallot. Peel and crush the garlic.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the leek with a good pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes until the leek is softened. Add the shallot and fry for another 3 minutes, then add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add the wine and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

While frying the leeks, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti for 7 minutes.

Remove 250ml of the pasta water just before draining the pasta, and add it to the leeks once the wine has been absorbed. Cook for a few minutes until the liquid starts to thicken, then add the cream and lemon zest, season with salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes.

Stir the pasta through the sauce in the pan. Add the toasted pine nuts, a good grating of parmesan and crumble in the crispy ham shards – keeping 2 aside for serving. Stir and distribute the pasta between two plates.

Top each portion with one whole ham shard and serve with more parmesan.

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