Rich and thick and a wonderful way to enjoy new leeks and potatoes.
These leeks were split down the center and then cleaned thoroughly to remove the sand that hides in the layers.There are many, many versions of this soup. You're basically sauteing leeks in butter, adding potatoes and broth, seasonings of your choice, and in most cases some sort of milk or cream. It helps to have an immersion blender like we have, to make it a creamy consistency without having to take a hot soup out of the pan and put it in a blender. I chose to leave a few chunks of potato.
Ingredients I used:
4 small leeks, cleaned well and sliced into small pieces
1 Tbs. butter
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1/3 C white wine
salt, pepper, 1 tsp. thyme, and one bay leaf
(DH said he thought tarragon would have been a good addition to the seasoning.)
1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, roughly diced (German Butterball)
4 C chicken broth - divided
1/3-1/2 C half and half
In a heavy saucepan (I use Le Creuset pots), saute the leeks, butter and bacon until the leeks are totally softened. Deglaze the pot with the wine, then add the seasonings, potatoes and 3C of the broth. Cook until the potatoes are tender, then blend all or most of the potato-leek mixture. Stir in the last cup of broth and the half and half until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
