Succulent leeks covered with creamy cheese sauce and topped with a crisp and crunchy layer of breadcrumbs. Leeks in Cheese sauce make a great side dish and can even be served or as a simple meat free main.
The layers of contrasting tastes and textures make this simple and verstile vegetable dish stand out from the crowd.
Ingredients
To make this dish you will need
- Leeks - try choose leeks that are all a similar thickness so they cook evenly.
- Butter – I use lightly salted
- Plain flour (US= all-purpose flour)
- Milk – Whole or semi-skimmed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Nutmeg
- Cheese – I used Caerphilly
- Fresh breadcrumbs – The term "fresh breadcrumbs" is a bit of a misnomer since they are best made using bread that is beginning to go stale. Scroll down to see how to make fresh bread crumbs. Use white or brown breadcrumbs.
Choosing the right cheese British cheeses
I originally served this version of leeks in cheese sauce as a side for a St.David's Day supper.
My mother used to make leeks in white sauce, sometimes adding cheese, so adapting on this occasion by adding a Welsh cheese to the sauce seemed ideal. Leeks are the Welsh national vegetable and using a Welsh cheese was my idea to make the recipe more, shall I say it... Welsh!
Now, I would have thought that was the easy part but it proved trickier than I expected. In fact when I went to buy the cheese from a local supermarket I was shocked at how little choice there was.
There is a reasonable choice of Continental cheeses, and amazing selection of Cheddar (do we really need that many cheddar's to choose from?), but when it comes to other British cheeses the variety is pretty abysmal.
You will probably find Stilton, red Leicester, double Gloucester, and if your lucky Wensleydale. As far as Welsh cheeses, they had absolutely none. Not all supermarkets are the same, of course, and admittedly I only shop in my small local supermarket, but I suspect the choices in the larger supermarkets will be much the same. Shocking, really.
There are so many good British cheeses out there, it's a shame they are not more widely available. Luckily for me, I have the fabulous (although pretty pricey) Borough market on my doorstep, so of I went to Neal's yard dairy, and brought a delicious Caerphilly.
Caerphilly Cheese
Caerphilly Cheese is a mild, versatile cheese that is well-suited to a variety of dishes. It is a white cheese with a slightly yellowish tinge.
Caerphilly Cheese has a crumbly texture that is slightly dry and has an open structure. It has a mild, slightly tangy flavour that is characteristic of Welsh cheeses. The flavour can be described as fresh, slightly sour, with a slightly salty finish.
The flavour of Caerphilly cheese is ideal in this dish and the sauce compliment the leeks perfectly.
Substituions
Hopefully, you will have a good deli or independent local store nearby with a good selection of cheeses, but alternatively, you could make the cheese sauce with another cheese. Although you could, if you must, use supermarket cheddar, I urge you to try artesian cheeses, at least once in a while. It can mean the difference between a good cheese sauce and an amazing cheese sauce.
For a very mild and creamy cheese sauce you can use cream cheese.
Make it your own
Add some fried cubes of bacon, pancetta or chroizo to the cheese sauce before poring over the leeks.
Add some mild Dijon mustard or some whole grain mustard to the sauce.
Serving suggestion
These cheesy leeks make a fabulous side dish. Delicious with Sunday roasts especially chicken and pork. It also goes well with grilled fish. Served with crusty bread it also makes for a great supper.
To make fresh breadcrumbs
You can use white or brown bread to make breadcrumbs. Use bread that is a few days old and beginning to stale but not fully dried out.
Remove crusts,( I leave mine on sometimes if they are soft). Tear the bread into pieces and add to the food processor and blitz until coarse crumbs form.
If you don't have stale bread, you can toast pieces in a warm oven for about 20 minutes until they have dried out.
Step by step Leeks in Cheese sauce
For detailed step by step instructions on how to make a cheese sauce check out my Basic white sauce recipe here.
Step 1 Trim and wash the leeks, cut them into short lengths.
Step 2 Steam or cook in lightly salted boiling water until just tender.
Step 3 Meanwhile, make the white sauce and stir in the cheese until melted.
Step 4 Pile the leeks into a flameproof dish and spoon over the sauce.
Step 5 Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Dot with butter.
Step 6 Brown under a hot grill, until the bread crumbs are crisp and golden.
Can you make leeks in cheese sauce in advance?
Yes you can make the dish in advance. Prepare the dish up until the end of step 5. Allow to cool then cover and chill until required.
To serve bake in the oven at 190℃ (170℃ fan)/375°F/gas mark 5 for about 30 minutes or until the leeks are piping hot and the top is crisp and golden.
Cook's Tips
Browning the topping on this Leek Gratin style dish under the grill saves putting the oven on but you will need to watch closely to check it doesn't burn.
If you have the oven on anyway (between 180℃ (160℃ fan)/350°F/gas mark 4 and 200℃ (180℃ fan)/400°F/gas mark 6), then slightly reduce the cooking time for the leeks so they are still slightly al dente. Then finish the dish off in the oven for about 25–35 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden.
Leeks in cheese sauce
Ingredients
- 1 kg leeks trimmed, washed, and cut into 3cm lengths
- 50 g butter
- 25 g plain flour
- 300 ml milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- pinch nutmeg
- 125 g Caerphilly Cheese
- 25 g fresh breadcrumbs (1oz)
Instructions
- Steam 1kg (2¼lb) leeks for 5-10 minutes until just tender.
Make the cheese sauce
- Melt 25g (1oz) butter in a small saucepan and stir in 25g (1oz) flour. Cook the flour over a low heat for about 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
- Gradually add 300ml (½pt) milk while stirring well. Return to a low heat and keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
- Crumble most of the 125g (5oz) cheese into the pan and continue to cook until the cheese has melted, stirring constantly
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg.
To complete
- Drain the leeks well and place in a shallow ovenproof dish and spoon the cheese sauce over the leeks.
- Sprinkle 25g (1oz) breadcrumbs over the surface of the sauce, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Dot the remaining butter over the top of the dish and brown under a preheated grill until golden.
Christine says
I would respectfully suggest that you proof read your blog before posting as I counted no less than 9 typos or spelling errors on the leeks in cheese sauce.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Well, that's embarrassing! I do proofread but for some reason my last edit the changes which picked up most of these typos did not save for some reason. I usually also get MR B to give it a proofread as some still often slip through but ran out of time on this occasion - Typical. HopefullyI have picked most of them up now.
S. Dempsey says
An excellant recepie, I enjoyed it very much.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
So pleased you enjoyed it.
Pixie Levesque says
This cheesy leek recipe was so easy to prepare and amazingly tasty. We have to have it again and again and did I say again!? Thank y ou.
Pixie
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Thank you Pixie so pleased you like it so much and thank you for taking the time to comment, I just love getting feed back like this 🙂
Janice Pattie says
Cheese and leeks are a marriage made in heaven! A lovely recipe and now I'm craving a dish of cheesy leeks.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I aggree they are a great combo.I love this as a side dish.