Leeks with Lemon, Currants and Goat Cheese

Oriental food is often simple to make but with interesting flavors and colors. Here is a Turkish recipe with baby leek and currant. The currant is giving this dish a beautiful color and a sour, yet sweet taste. Leek is a very straight forward ingedient that is often forgotten. For this recipe we used current from the garden and self-grown leek. Life in Sweden can be fun (when it's not raining). 

Leeks with Lemon, Currants and Goat cheese

750 g baby leek or 4 large leeks (if large, sliced them)

125 ml olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 1/2 tsp caster sugar

finely grated zest from 1 lemon

35 g currants

50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

375 ml chicken stock

2 thyme sprigs

125 g tulum cheese (goat cheese)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C degrees. 

2. Trim the leek 3-4 cm from the tops and clean them proper. Make sure that the root ends keep together or they will fall apart during cooking.

3. Place a single laying in a large rosting tin. 

4. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about two minutes or until fragrant. Pour the oil mixture over the leeks in the tin. 

5. Scatter over the sugar, lemon and currants then pur over the lemon juice and stock; season with freshly ground black pepper. 

6. Cover the tin tighly with foil and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes (50 minutes if big leeks). 

7. Remove from the oven, drain the leek and set a side, reserve the cooking liquid. 

8. Transfer the cooking liquid to a saucepan and bring to boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or untilt he liquid has reduced and thinkened, the pour it over the leeks. 

9. Season with salt and cool completely. 

10. Before serving, scatter the crumbled tulum cheese and serve. 

Enjoy!