I love soup.
I’m an equal opportunity soup eater and will happily eat my soup year round. However, I do find that my soup consumption goes up considerably in the colder months. I blame the fact that we run the a/c year round in my office and I need something to keep me warm!
Seriously though, what is more comforting on a cold day (office?) than a hot bowl of soup. It warms your belly and fills you up! Plus who doesn’t love the excuse to grab a handful of oyster crackers to toss into your bowlful? I know I don’t.
I have to admit though, for a long time there were only about 5 or 6 soups in my rotation. What can I say? I never denied being a picky eater. Did it have beans? Count it out? Mushrooms? Forget that. Cream? You’re out too.
Thank goodness for my ever changing (ahem, maturing) palate and my willingness to try something new. Otherwise, I would have never discovered that I do like New England clam chowder, and this leek and potato soup? So luscious, smooth and creamy, and not a drop of cream was added to it!
Ingredients
- 3 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 leeks, thinly sliced and cleaned
- 24oz (1 1/2 pounds) yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 dice
- 3 - 3 1/2 cups chicken stock, homemade preferred
- salt and pepper
- parsley to garnish
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy and remove with a slotted spoon. Reserve the bacon fat in the pot.
- Add the leeks to the pot, lowering the heat if necessary and saute for 10-15 minutes , or until soft and translucent. Be careful not to burn the leeks, as they will impart a bitter taste to the soup. The excess liquid from cleaning the leeks should help prevent any burning.
- Add your potatoes to the pot and pour in the chicken stock, starting with 3 cups and adding the extra 1/2 cup if the stock does not fully cover the potatoes and leeks.
- Cover and cook on medium-low until the potatoes are cooked through and fork-tender. About 25-30 minutes.
- Remove a small amount of potatoes with a slotted spoon and set aside - approximately 1/2 cup.
- Using a immersion blender or carefully with a traditional blender, blend the soup until smooth.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl, add a bit of the reserved potatoes, and garnish with the cooked bacon and parsley.
Notes
This recipe can easily be adapted for a vegetarian palate. Just leave out the bacon and swap out the bacon fat for olive oil and the chicken stock for vegetable.
Potato Soup, and a good pint of beer canot be beaten on a wet miserable day like today. And last week waste National Potato week, so the soup is good from any leftovers, though never as easy to make as it looks.
leek and potato is one of my favorite soups! I’ve never made it with bacon though – I will definitely need to try that. Yum!
I love soup…love…and leek and potato is a particular favorite. Despite the love, I’ve rarely made my own soup and that needs to change. Yum!
I have never had a leek & potato soup….it looks absolutely delicious though, so I’ll prob. like it!! 😛
Love the potato and leek combo! We just shared this soup too. I could eat soups all year long. They make a perfect lunch to go!
I love soup. There is leek in my garden ready for harvest and potato in storage, ready to roll.
Whoa – so few ingredients! I’m gonna have to try this. Believe it or not, I’ve never cooked with leeks before.
Great taste and so easy to make! Loved that there were so few ingredients and no cream — but it tasted like there was! I had to refrigerate the soup before serving it, so I added a bit more chicken stock while reheating it to thin it out some. Great flavor and didn’t require a ton of salt to make it taste great!
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