Annalisa’s Pasta Sauce

Annalisa & JussiOriginally uploaded by wjharrison77.

Cracking day at school today. One of those days that had me bouncing like Tigger as I left the building. Can’t quite explain why it was so good either. It was a pretty average day, and that makes the fact that it was so good even better! 🙂

This next recipe is an odd one. It was introduced to me by an Italian-Austrian friend called Annalisa, and to say I was sceptical about its success would be a gross understatement.

I vividly remember the rainy March day I sat in her kitchen watching her prepare it. As she chopped the ingredients she was telling me about a life-changing decision she had recently made and though I tried hard to listen all I could think was: what on earth is she putting in this pasta sauce?!

I saw bacon (fairly standard); I saw cream (not unusual); I saw a huge leek (ok), and then I saw some carrots. Carrots? Carrots? The carrots confused me greatly. To make it worse, she grated the carrots. This couldn’t work, surely.

But, despite my extreme misgivings – misgivings that had me wondering if Annalisa actually was two thirds Italian as she had claimed and whether I should be in the apartment with her on my own – the sauce was fantastico!

I tried to take a photo of the sauce but, much like me, it does not photograph well.  Instead, I posted a photo of Annalisa herself and her fiance.

Annalisa’s Pasta Sauce (serves 2)

1 tblspn olive oil
4 big rashers of unsmoked bacon (more if you live outside of the UK – our bacon is huge in comparison to what I’ve seen in European and North American shops), chopped thickly
1 medium leek, sliced thinly
2 large carrots, grated thickly
250g creme fraiche
Pepper
200g pasta of your choice (I like wholewheat fusilli)

• Fry the bacon gently in the olive oil until it leaves some of its fat.
• Add the leek and saute until leek is soft and sweet.
• Add the carrot and saute for 2 mins.
• Add the creme fraice and a little water – enough to loosen the sauce.
• Season with pepper. You probably won’t need any salt due to the saltiness of the bacon.
• Simmer gently whilst you cook the pasta.
• Combine sauce with pasta.

I’m entering this one in the Presto Pasta round up.

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