I’m not entirely sure whether someone writing a sensible ‘grown up’ food-blog like this should use words like ‘yummy’. But in this instance, I’m going to throw caution to the wind and come straight out with it… This dish is absolutely yummy! There; I’ve said it! Please don’t hold it against me; we all have or faults.

If you can bear to continue reading after that, I shall tell you that I didn’t get home from work until eight o’clock last night. As a result, I was ravenous & craving something fast, filling & easy to cook.  Well this delicious gratin is exactly that. Not only is it incredibly quick to prepare; it’s also one of those recipes that’s absolutely bursting with flavour from only a mere handful of simple ingredients. There’s also precious little washing-up; so I consider this dish to be a true winner on all fronts!

There’s something sublimely indulgent about the combination of leeks & salted butter. The vegetables go so tender as to almost melt off the fork. The leeks are then wrapped in smoky slices of cured ham & topped by a delicious layer of golden, molten mozzarella; can you understand why I describe this dish as ‘mouth-watering’?

Because there’s virtually no carbohydrate in this dish; it’s perfect for diabetics or anyone following a ketogenic-diet or paleo-plan.  The only real carb-content here is the circa 1g of net carbs found in the leeks themselves. And that certainly won’t break the cab-bank…! I’ve served the gratin with fresh green pea-shoots; but it would go equally well with any crisp green salad or even cauliflower rice (cauliflower rice recipe here).

Start by trimming the tops off your leeks, reserving them for another day’s stock or soup. Then cut the white stems into 3 inch chunks.  Sauté the leeks in butter in a heavy bottomed pan until they start to soften, circa 5 minutes. Once the leeks are tender, roughly chop a few rashers of bacon and add these to the pan.  Continue to cook on a low heat until the vegetables are golden and the bacon a crisp brown. Then remove the pan from the heat to allow to cool for five minutes, so that you don’t burn your fingers when wrapping the ham.

In a separate pan pour in a generous cupful of double cream and stir in a good tablespoonful of Dijon mustard. Place onto the hob, stirring occasionally until the cream approaches the boil. At this point, season well and mix in a handful of chopped herbs (I used basil but any fresh herb of your choice will do the job admirably!).

Cut your ham slices into lengths with approximately the same width as the leeks. Place a piece of leek on the end of each slice and roll them up like sausage-rolls. Once done, place these back into your original pan, which should still have the bacon scattered at intervals over the base. Then simply pour on your cream mixture, making sure to cover the surface as uniformly as possible.

All that remains is to cut your mozzarella into thick wedges and place these on top. Give the dish a final sprinkling of herbs then into a hot oven it goes for 15 minutes to brown up, up under the grill until the surface is bubblingly brown and delicious!

Spoon the finished dish into broad bowls and serve your salad to one side. Then dig in whilst the gratin is still piping hot!

Voila! A delicious low-carb meal ready in just under 30 minutes!

Browse this and other recipes by picture on my pinterest page: country walks in ketosis pinterest.

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.