This dish of butter-soft, almost caramelised leeks with flecks of nutty hazelnut is one of Dudley's favourite side dishes. "It goes excellently alongside fish, meat or even as star of the show. Feel free to sub hazelnuts for other nuts if you wish," she says. We'll be using this as a fuss-free side next time we have friends over for dinner.
Make Alexandra Dudley’s baked leeks with butter
Caramelised leeks, zingy thyme and crunchy hazelnuts make this dish the perfect combination of textures and flavours. It’s so good, you won’t need much with it
Serves 4
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 leeks
- 75g butter
- Sea salt
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 30g toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat your oven to 200°C fan.
- Thoroughly wash and trim your leeks and halve them lengthways.
- Arrange onto a roasting tray and dot the butter evenly amongst them. Sprinkle generously with sea salt and thyme leaves.
- Bake for 30 minutes, basting with the butter halfway through. Simply tilt the tray and use a spoon to collect the buttery, herby juices to drizzle over the leeks.
- Once soft and slightly caramelised remove from the oven. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle over your hazelnuts.
- Eat while warm.
Recipe from Alexandra Dudley; photography by Alexandra Dudley. alexandradudley.com
