Trying New things..."Leeks" and Recipe Review "Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Bucatini"

Trying New things..."Leeks" and Recipe Review "Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Bucatini"

I received  a free sample magazine in the mail.  It's titled "Cuisine at Home".  It is geared to the home cook.  I may have to subscribe.  They do assume in the magazine that the "home" cook has a vast knowledge of all items in the cooking world.  Although that may be true of most home cooks it is not the case for me.  This could be a good problem because I love to try new things so here goes.....I chose a recipe called "Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Bucatini with Garlic Bread Crumbs"
Lets break the recipe down a bit....

..just what is Bucatini?  Off to Google for the answer..
"small hollow tubes of pasta"  (I used spaghetti)
/ˌbʊkəˈtiːni/  (still not sure how to pronounce it:-)

Did you notice the recipe called for Leeks?  I was off to Harris Teeter to find one....and off to Google to find out just what they were....
Pronunciation:/lēk/ 
a plant related to the onion, with flat overlapping leaves forming an elongated cylindrical bulb that together with the leaf bases is eaten as a vegetable. It is used as a Welsh national emblem.

I found one...
Now what???
Off to Google yet again:-)

I learned online that you don't use the entire leek.  Just the center portion that you see in the photo.

..then you thinly cut the portions you want to use.  I also found they tend to hold a lot of dirt so they need to be thoroughly cleaned prior to use.....

 ..to clean them you slice them to the desired size and put them in a bowl filled with water.  Stir them around gently, the leeks will float and any dirt will sink to the bottom of the bowl.  Easy!

I gathered my ingredients....
and they were many..

...some helpful hints...

...garlic....

..one of the many steps..

"Caramelized my
tomatoes"...

 Adding the pasta...

End result....
What would I rate this recipe?
This is a hard one.  It was tasty, but it was not easy.  There were many steps involved and it took a very long time.  As far as flavor I would probably give it an 8/10.  It was unique, and very good. It took so long to make that I don't think I would make it again.


Happy Eating and Cooking!
Enjoy Your World:-)