Gordon Ramsay's Pasta with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Leeks

Let me start by saying, I loved making this recipe. It was the perfect weeknight dinner.



medium pasta shells, pancetta, crimini mushrooms, leeks, olive oil, salt, pepper, creme fraiche, and parsley.

Rinse and slice the leeks.

Clean and slice the mushrooms.

Chop the pancetta. (This pancetta was thinner than I wanted. The evil Giant Eagle only sold it prepackaged and nearly shaved.) This would have been better if I had a slab of pancetta to chop.

Cook and drain the pasta shells.

Saute the pancetta in the olive oil just until it starts to turn a golden brown around the edges, but do not let it get crispy like bacon.

Add the leeks and the mushrooms.

Saute until the leeks soften up and the mushrooms start to shrink. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the leek mixture with the pasta and add a generous dollop of creme fraiche.

Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Carlo and I loved this dish. The kids even liked it since the pasta shells were kid-friendly. The creme fraiche was the perfect finishing touch. It added just enough accentuation without masking any of the subtler flavors.

We were discussing what we liked about the dish and what, if anything, we would change about it. Here's what we thought would be good. This dish would dress up really nice with some fettuccini instead of the shells. Also, we thought that instead of using the baby bellas, we could by full sized portabella caps, grill them and add them to the dish. We even thought about using a grilled cap to hold a nest of fettuccini on top, or even to cap off the pasta with the grilled mushroom. And then we decided that a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan would have been a nice addition, too.

35 Minutes. That's all it took. This was a definite winner and has earned its way into my permanent recipe collection.

"Pasta with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Leeks" ... Done.