Cheesy leek and bacon pasta

Friday nights dinner is a recipe from my current issue of Good Food magazine (February 2012).  As it is from my most recent issue it is not available on the website, so I will provide the recipe as it appears in the magazine.  When preparing it for dinner I made a few alterations which I will note at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil

300g/11oz leeks, halved and finely sliced

8 rashers smoked streaky bacon, sliced

400g/14oz pasta shapes

100g/4oz herb and garlic soft cheese

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.  Add the leeks and 2 tbsp water, and cook for about 10 mins until very soft.  Add the bacon, turn up the heaat and fry until cooked.
2. Menwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions.  Drain and reserve a mug of the cooking water.
3. Spoon cheese into the leek and bacon mix, adding some of the reserved cooking water.  Season and stir gently over a low heat until melted.  Toss though the cooked pasta, adding a little more cooking water, if needed, to help the sauce coat the pasta.

Per serving - 556kcals, protein 23g, carbs 76g, fat 18g, sat fat 7g, fibre 4g, sugar 4g, salt 1.5g

In my altered version I didn't add the olive oil, I just cooked the leeks in the water.  I used some back bacon that I had in the fridge in the place of the streaky bacon.  For the cream cheese I used some phildelphia light that was in the fridge.  Also, as the recipe is for four I halfed the ingredients.

It was really quick and easy to make, so would be perfect for a night when dinner has to be prepared quickly.

I can't work out how much this meal cost me exactly.  The bacon was €1.50, the pasta was 49 cent for 500g and the leeks were €1.  The phildelphia has been in since before christmas and I cant remember what I paid for it so have allowed €1.  I think this is quite generous as I only used a third of the tub. I think it's safe to say that it was well under €5.

If I make this again it will just be for me and the kids as my husband isn't keen.  He doesn't like cheese and I decided to give it to him without letting on what was in it.  Although he ate it, he obviously didn't enjoy it so I will not be making it for him again.  My daughter and I loved it.