This is another dinner that came from a request by my wife. She was with me during my grocery shopping and saw some leeks. "Mmmm, potato leek soup!" said she. So into the cart went the leeks and some potatoes.
Later that week, I found myself with half a head of cabbage that needed using, and ended up roasting the potatoes with the cabbage and putting the leeks with some chicken in an Asian-style dish. So this past weekend while shopping, I once again picked up leeks and potatoes, and resolved not to let the soup get missed again.
Now, the most famous potato-and-leek soup is vichysoisse, a dish whose origin is debated, though many sources (as referenced in Wikipedia, for example) ascribe it to Louis Diat of the Ritz-Carlton. I personally don't like cold soups as a general rule, and I also try to limit my use of milk and cream, so I needed to go a different route. Rather than search for recipes, I decided to venture out on my own. What I ended up with was a cross between vichyssoise and baked potato soup, and it was delicious.
Easy Potato Leek Soup
1/4 lb bacon (3-4 slices), cut into pieces 3-4 inches long
2-3 leeks, chopped(1)
2-3 large potatoes, cubed
1 quart vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat your soup pot and cook the bacon. When the bacon is cooked, set aside the pieces to drain and crisp up. Sautee the leeks in the bacon fat for 3-4 minutes until they are soft and have soaked the fat up. Add the potatoes and cover with stock. Simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.
When the potatoes are cooked, use an immersion blender or work in batches in your blender to puree the soup. Serve hot with crumbled bacon.
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(1) Remove the root end and the dark leaves, leaving the white and light green sections.
Ok, I think I like the pureeing the soup part of the recipe. I don't know that Ripley will eat it like that, so I may try your recipe with only pureeing half of it. She likes the chunks of potatoes and leeks. I will let you know how it goes!
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