The musician shares her favorite comfort dish: creamy baked leeks served with sourdough.
Key Points
- Gracie Abrams shares a cozy recipe for French-braised leeks, perfect for a cozy day at home.
- The creamy leek dish features flavorful ingredients like tarragon, thyme and white wine.
- Abrams pairs the dish with toasted sourdough, calling it “the best tasting thing of all time.”
Gracie Abrams isn’t only a talented musician; she’s also an accomplished home chef. The artist recently appeared on the “Now Serving” series from Vogue and taught the people watching at home how to make French-braised leeks—a recipe we’re definitely adding to our to-do list.
Abrams says she got the recipe for this “comfort dish” from cookbook author Corre Larkinwho focuses on recipes used for entertaining, simple home-cooked meals and recipes inspired by travels around the world. Abrams says she loved making comfort food while recording her latest album in London, where the weather inspired her to stay in and be cozy.
Using a large chef’s knife, Abrams preps the leeks by cutting off the greens and chopping the white part of the leek into generous sections of about 1.5 inches a piece. With the leeks ready to go, Abrams sets them aside and combines butter and heavy cream in a saucepan, letting the butter melt before adding fresh thyme and anchovies. Once the buttery mixture was infused with the herb, she pours in about ½ cup white wine and zests a lemon right into the pan.
After a bit more time on the stove, Abrams shows the camera her almost-final product—after cooling slightly, the sauce is creamy and yellow with flecks of herbs. She sets it aside and cleans the leeks before buttering her baking dish generously. A pinch of salt gets sprinkled over the buttered dish, then Abrams arranges the leeks so they’re all facing up. She dots the tops of the leeks with butter and arranges tarragon leaves “like a little blanket” over and around the veggies. Three bay leaves get tucked into the pan as well.
Abrams pours the cream sauce over the top, and the dish is ready for the oven. “A kind of magical thing happens,” Abrams explains. “Because as these cook down, they soak up all the liquid and it’s really the best tasting thing of all time.”
Part of the process that makes these leeks soft and delicious is that they have to go in the oven twice. First, bake them at 325° F for 25 to 40 minutes, loosely covered in foil to protect the top from getting burned. Next, remove the tin foil and turn the oven up to 400°. Pop it back in for about another 30 minutes. In the end, the tops of the leeks are a bit browned and much of the liquid has been absorbed by the veggies.
“This is my vessel,” Abrams says, gesturing to a plate of toasted sourdough. She says she likes to tear some bread, spoon some leeks on from the baking dish, and enjoy right away. “It’s the best day ever!” she says. “Like, flip the table, it’s so good.”
Along with the leeks, Abrams makes an extra dirty gin martini, but we think there are several other sips that would pair well with this dreamy dish. Maybe a classic mocktail or fruity tea would do the trick—and if you need help building out your menu, here are a few more recipes we’d love to pair with these tasty veggies:
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