Sunday 27 April 2014

Paleo Alfredo with Carmelized Leeks and Bacon

Avery is (or was) a big fan of Alfredo sauce, so when I cam accross this I thought I should make it, and hope that Avery would eat it. I was not totally successful, but she did taste it. 
Its a pretty simple recipe to make.  The only downside is the cauliflower -  I always make such a mess with cauliflower.
As far as the flavor goes, I would not call it Alfredo sauce.  I would add some real garlic to supplement the flavor, and salt and pepper.  Perhaps cooking the leeks with some chopped garlic would be nice.  The texture is a little (ok a lot) different than Alfredo sauce.  It is not thick and creamy - or at least mine wasn't, and its kind of grainy from the cauliflower.  Maybe my food processor is just not as wonderful as I thought.  I also added extra bacon to the sauce and sausage (its what I had handy).... I need more protien in a meal than just a few slices of bacon!
Despite the recipe/texture flaws, I still did quite enjoy the dish.  I served it over Zucchini noodles using my veggie spiral slicer.  I was worried about freezing the meal, because zucchini releases so much water when it defrosts, but it really did not effect the sauce at all :-)



I got the recipe from Meatified
Ingredients
    To cook the leeks:
  • 1 tbl ghee or coconut oil - I used the bacon fat
  • 2 large leeks, washed and chopped (about 4 cups) - probably ended up using 4 leeks and they were a decent size
  • 1/8 cup chicken stock - (i do make my own chicken stock)
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon - I totally forgot this (as I see now I am writing) - could explain my flavor?
  • To make the sauce:
  • 3/4 lb cauliflower, chopped (4 cups) - I just used an entire head of cauliflower - I find costco has the largest cauliflowers
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • For the noodles:
  • 2 large white sweet potatoes (or preferred vegetable) - i had zucchini
  • To garnish:
  • 6 slices bacon - of course I used more than 6 slices of bacon, and I also mixed it into my sauce
  • Handful green onions, chopped
Instructions
    To cook the leeks:
  1. Over a low-medium heat, add the ghee or coconut oil (bacon fat) to a large skillet. Add the leeks, stirring them through so that they are coated in the fat evenly, then turn the heat down to low. Cook until softened and beginning to caramelize at the edges, about 20 minutes. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice and cover the pan, cooking until completely tender, about 5 - 10 minutes.
  2. To make the sauce:
  3. While the leeks are cooking, fill a saucepan 1/3 way full of water and bring to a boil. Add the chopped cauliflower and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.
  4. Drain the cauliflower and add to a blender, along with the chicken stock, coconut milk, salt and garlic powder. Puree until smooth and liquid. Mine really did not get that smooth, but I used my food processor
  5. Once the leeks are cooked, stir them into the cauliflower Alfredo sauce (this is where I added my bacon too). Set aside.
  6. For the noodles:
  7. Use a spiralizer to make the sweet potatoes (or veggie of choice) into noodles. Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the spiralized sweet potato to the boiling water and cook until softened, but still al dente, about 4 - 5 minutes. I actually just pan fry my noodles.  I find it just as quick and easy
  8. Drain the sweet potato noodles.
  9. To garnish and assemble: I skipped most of the following - I just ladled my sauce onto my noodles and ate - my bacon was in my sauce
  10. Cook the bacon until crisp. Allow to cool slightly and chop into small pieces.
  11. Slice the green onions.
  12. Add the sweet potato noodles to a large skillet, pour over the Alfredo sauce and leeks. Use tongs to stir the sauce through the noodles and make sure everything is coated evenly. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash or two of water.
  13. Simmer the noodles in the sauce until everything is warmed through.
  14. Pile the noodles and Alfredo sauce onto plates. Sprinkle with bacon pieces and green onion before serving.
I hope that you can make  your sauce smoother, creamier and more garlicy than I did!!  Please let me know how it goes for you!!
Happy Cooking!!
JoJo!!