Recipe & photography by Izzie Cox.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g bacon lardons (I used veggie)
1 leek, finely sliced
3 heads chicory, preferably a mix of yellow and red, roughly chopped
Few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
400g Northern Pasta Co casarecce
35g butter
35g plain flour
450ml whole milk
150g Comte cheese
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180 Fan. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, remove from the pan and set aside.l
Put the frying pan back on the heat with the remaining olive oil. Add the leek and cook until translucent, around 4 minutes. Turn up the heat and add the chicory, cook stirring often until soft and a little charred. Stir through the thyme and set aside.
Cook the casarecce in a large pan of salted boiling water for – until al dente. Drain, reserving a mugful of pasta water.
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring the whole time until a smooth sauce has formed. Stir through half of the comte cheese, mustard and lemon zest and taste for seasoning.
Mix together the bacon, chicory mix, pasta and cheese sauce then transfer to a large baking dish. Top with the remaining Comte and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and crisp.
