I ate the photo op again. Sorry. But since there's no picture of the soup to whet your appetite, here's a picture of some icicles on my house to leave you in a soup-making mood. This is perfect for a cold night by the fire.
This is a really easy, fast soup. The exact proportions of ingredients don't even matter. It's always good. The prep takes the most time because leeks can be a pain to wash. It's worth it, though. This soup is subtle and delicious.
3 medium waxy potatoes
4 leeks
4 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream (optional)
Unsalted butter
Salt & Pepper
Peel & dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces. Remove the tough greens from the leeks, wash them thoroughly and finely slice them. You should have about 4 cups of leeks in the end. If you've never cooked with leeks before you're in for a treat. Here's a picture tutorial on how to cut and clean them.
Combine the potatoes, leeks and broth in a large pot. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until the potatoes are easy to mash against the side of the pot. About 20 minutes.
Puree the soup for no more than 30 seconds in a food processor pr blender. We actually just hit ours with one of those food wands and it works great. Add cream and bring back to a simmer.
Salt & pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread and a slice of butter.
We really prefer hot soups over cold soups but for those of you already experiencing warm temperatures you can take this recipe a couple of more steps and have a traditional, cold French soup.
Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
Beat another 1/2 cup of heavy cream until barely stiff, chill.
Serve soup in chilled bowls with a dollop of whipped cream and some chopped chives or watercress.
Parsnip & Leek Soup
Another great variation of this soup is to substitute parsnips for the potatoes. Use roughly the same amount. You might have to cook them a tad longer for them to be mushable. Everything else is exactly the same. A wonderful, subtle soup with two amazing but under-used vegetables.
