Have you ever spent too much of one afternoon
like a sloth on the couch watching Cooking Channel and Travel Channel shows and suddenly desiring whatever you've been staring at for the past hour? And then you realize that you don't have homemade pasta that is light as air, or a perfectly cooked loin of venison, or wild boar ragú, or the best Pressed Duck in NYC, or... or... or...
Because that happens to me frequently.
And it
really frustrates me.
On this particular occasion I was craving pasta, and upon
scrounging through investigating my refrigerator I found the following:
one medium leek
half a package of diced prosciutto
fresh thyme
open box of chicken stock
white wine
Score.
And of course, I had dried pasta and garlic on hand. Dinner was in the offing.
One sliced leek, one clove of garlic, and a bit shy of a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme.
Sautée the leek in olive oil until soft and just starting to brown, and add minced/grated garlic clove.
Add cubetti to get a bit of color on them as well.
Season with salt (not too much because of the prosciutto) and throw in chopped thyme.
Use about 1/4 cup white wine to deglaze, and a couple glugs of chicken stock.
Cook to reduce.
Add pasta.
Garnish with a bit of grated cheese and devour.
Note: This did not make the thickest or richest of sauces, but it was lovely and delicate in flavor, and you should try it with a short pasta such as orecchiette, fusilli (which I loved as a kid), or cavatappi. I happened to only have long ribbons in my pantry at the time, hence the fettuccine.
