Fusilli lunghi with leeks and bacon

Children are always told not to play with their food. There are foods though that just seem to be asking to be played with. I think fusilli lunghi fall into that category. If I were to give it an English name it would have to be something like Goldy Locks or telephone cords. And they are even more fun when they are cooked.

Fusilli lunghi originate from Campania, which is probably one of the more beautiful regions of Italy. Campania is full of tourist destinations like Naples, Pompeii, Capri or Amalfi Coast, to name a few. It's also rich in culinary traditions and home to many famous dishes, including pizza. The name of fusilli lunghi more or less means long pasta that has been span around a rod. Traditionally it was supposed to be span manually around a knitting needle. 

There are two types of fusilli lunghi: the regular ones, used in this recipe and fusilli lunghi bucati with a hole in the middle (buco means 'hole'). Because it is a bit thicker than your regular spaghetti, the cooking time is also a bit longer, 13-14 minutes. There are several brands that offer fusilli lunghi, and quite a few can be purchased from online stores (try Amazon). I used Garofalo, a brand from Campania, which turned out be a really good choice. 

Now about the recipe itself. Leeks are less intense than onions and the addition of sugar really smooths out the flavour of both. The bacon doesn't have to be the Italian pancetta, just find some that will be like pancetta. And if you can buy it already cut in cubes, then by all means, do! 

This recipe is for 3-4 people. The preparation time is about 45 minutes. If you think it will not be enough for a full meal you can serve it with a meat of your choice. I really enjoyed it with some steamed fish.

Ingredients:

320g/12oz fusilli lunghi

1Tbsp butter

1Tbsp olive oil

1 onion (medium size) chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

170g/6oz pancetta (or similar bacon) cut into small cubes

4 large leeks

250ml/1cup of boiling water

salt and pepper

2 egg yolks

dash of sugar

parmesan to sprinkle on top

Discard about two outer layers from your leeks. Wash them and cut off the root part and most of the green part.

Chop the onions and garlic cloves. I hate chopping onions, since they make me really tear up, so I just put mine in a small food processor, along with garlic. Just a couple of seconds and it's all finely chopped. 

Put butter and olive oil in a pot and heat up on medium. Add the onion and garlic and saute on medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring a couple of times so it doesn't burn. Next add the bacon, give it a stir and continue cooking for couple of minutes. You don't want the bacon to get crispy.

While your onion and bacon are sauteing slice leeks into thin wheels. This would be a good time to put the kettle on for your boiling water. If you are afraid you can't multitask and watch over onions and bacon and slice at the same time, start your work with leeks first. 

Transfer the leeks to the pot with onions and bacon, add the boiling water and simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. The leeks should be very soft. Start boiling water for pasta now. Now you also have a couple of minutes to clean up a bit.

Separate the egg yolks and mix them with a dash of sugar. Check your leeks. If they are already tender season them with salt and pepper. Add the egg yolks stirring the whole time. Remove from heat. If your pasta is not ready yet, cover it to keep the sauce warm.

Drain pasta, put back in the pot, add the sauce and toss well together. Transfer to plates and sprinkle with parmesan. If you want to be more elegant feel free to use a serving dish.

If your sauce seems to have a bit too  much liquid drain the pasta 1-2 minutes before the end of the cooking time suggested, transfer it to the pot with the sauce and continue cooking for the remaining time. It should absorb most of the extra liquid. Also, if you're not going to use all the sauce you can heat it uo the next day and serve it with freshly cooked pasta.