Fried leeks

By Birgitta

Leeks, like other oniony things, reach a certain peak when fried. It's the subtle sweetness that suddenly becomes evident and works so well with their creamy texture. The pepper garnish here will keep, chilled in its syrup, for a few days: use it for salads and roasted vegetables.

Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients

• 1 red pepper
• 80 g caster sugar
• 200 ml water
• 100 ml cider vinegar
• 10 pink peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 3 cardamom pods
• Salt and white pepper
• 5 medium leeks
• 150 g crème fraîche
• 2 spring onions, sliced thinly on an angle, plus extra to garnish
• 11/2 tbsp chopped capers
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 11/2 tbsp olive oil
• 150 ml sunflower oil
• 50 g panko breadcrumbs
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Preparation

Step 1

Quarter the pepper lengthways, discard the stem, core and seeds, and cut the flesh into long, 1.5cm-thick strips. Put these in a small pan, add the sugar, water, vinegar, peppercorns, coriander, cardamom and some salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, remove and discard the hard, green leaves from the leeks, cut the white into roughly 6cm-long segments, and wash well. Cook in boiling salted water for 15 minutes, until semi-soft, drain and leave to dry. While they're cooking, stir together the crème fraîche, spring onion, capers, lemon and olive oil, and season to taste.

Heat the sunflower oil in a medium pan. Put the breadcrumbs and egg on two separate plates, and season the crumbs with salt. Roll the leeks in the egg, shaking off any excess, then roll to coat in breadcrumbs. Fry the leeks for 30 seconds a side - do this in batches. Once golden, transfer to kitchen towel to drain.

Serve five chunks of leek per portion, topped with a dollop of the crème fraîche mix. Lift a few strips of cooled red pepper from the pan, shake off most of the syrup and lay over the leeks (don't worry if any coriander seeds or peppercorns make the trip, too). Garnish with the spring onion and serve at once.