With fall on the way, the gardens and farm markets bulging with the last of the harvests, one of the things that ring of comfort food on a cool fall night is soup. Soups can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but they are basically quite a simple dish to make. Just like potato soup, for example. Be sure to make enough so that you can freeze or can part of it, enabling you to enjoy your favorite garden fresh soups in the dead of winter.
Leek And Potato Soup For Cold Winter Nights
I ended up with some really nice, big leeks a little while ago, and I was wondering what I was going to do with them. Leek and potato soup popped into my head, so I off I went to gather up the rest of my ingredients to make this yummy soup. Unlike a lot of leak and potato soups, I maintain a bit of chunkiness in the soup instead of a total puree. And a bit of good quality curry powder for serving garnish enhances the taste, making the flavor pop.
Remember when cleaning leeks that they need to be cut in half lengthwise and run under water to thoroughly clean them. Leeks are notorious for being loaded with dirt or sand between the leaves, and that is one flavor that you definitely do not want in your soup!
Leek and Potato Soup
What You Need:
- 3-4 leeks- well cleaned then roughly chopped
- 3-8 cloves of garlic (plain or roasted)- smashed. Note that the number of cloves will depend on the size of the cloves that you have as well as your own taste. This is for average sized cloves.
- 7 cups of chicken broth
- 2 lbs of potatoes, cut into ½” chunks
- 3 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted is fine – adjust final seasoning according to choice)
- 2 bay leaves
- Couple pinches of dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper- fresh ground if possible
- 1 cup heavy cream
How To:
- In a large soup pot, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add the coarsely chopped leeks and smashed garlic, cooking till the leeks are soft and wilted.
- Stir frequently to avoid browning, approx. 10 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, broth, bay, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and adjust heat to low.
- Simmer approximately 12-20 minutes or until the potatoes are quite soft.
- Fish out the bay leaves.
- Remove 1-1 ½ cups of the liquid, making sure there are potato chunks in it.
- Puree the remaining liquid and potatoes in the pot, using an immersion (or regular) blender, until smooth.
- Return the reserved liquid with potato chunks to the pot and add the heavy cream. Simmer, adding additional salt and pepper to taste (if you choose).
- Continue simmering until soup reached the desired thickness. If you let it go too long and it ends up too thick, add additional broth til desired consistency is found.
Serve in individual bowls and garnish with a generous sprinkle of curry powder.
Here is a video by Food wishes on how to make Vichyssoise:
Do you have other homemade potato soup recipes you want to share? Let us know in the comments section below.
Up Next: Soup, Stews, and Chili Oh My! Winter Weather Favorites
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