Leek sauce

"I insist on having interesting people around the dinner table: painters, writers, people who are doing things. Barry Humphries is an ideal guest - a most intelligent and amusing person. I'm a little frightened of Dame Edna Everage, though, so have never invited her to my table!." - Margaret Olley Extract from The Artist's Lunch. More

Margaret Olley - Recipe

• serves

  6

Ingredients

3 x leeks

Butter

Thickened cream

Baby carrots or broad beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

This is a quick and simple sauce that you can use in many ways. It is delicious served with baked lamb and rosemary.

Take 3 leeks. Wash, remove base and slice into 5 mm rounds. Sweat them in a frying pan with a liberal amount of butter. A piece of baking paper placed over the top at this stage will help sweat them.

When leeks are almost cooked, remove the baking paper and season with salt and pepper.

Add a pot of thickened cream and slowly bring to the boil.

You can add baby carrots if you like or, depending on what you’re having, cooked broad beans.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.