Creamy Leek and Potato Soup
- Savory
- Creamy
- Stovetop
- Oven
Leeks and onion soften slowly in butter, potatoes simmer in chicken stock until tender, then the whole pot is blended smooth with a little cream. A comforting, gently seasoned soup that is not spicy.
- Total
- 58 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 43
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Sweating · Simmering
Instructions
-
Trim the leeks, slice them into 1 cm rings and wash them well in a bowl of cold water to release the grit. Peel the onion and chop it into 1 cm pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes.
~15 min
Leeks trap soil between their layers, so slicing before washing lets the grit sink and leave clean rings.
-
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and onion with a pinch of the salt and sweat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned.
~10 min
Sweating at medium heat draws out moisture and softens without browning, preserving the clean, sweet leek flavour.
Sweat the leeks and onion on medium, not high, heat: browning them turns the soup sweet and toasty, while pale sweating keeps the clean leek flavour that makes this soup taste fresh.
Sweating Keep the heat at medium and stir often; the vegetables should glisten and soften without taking on colour. If they start to brown, lower the heat.
-
Add the potatoes and stir for 1 minute so they pick up the buttery leeks. Pour in the chicken stock and the remaining salt, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover partly and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until the potatoes crush easily against the side of the pot.
~26 min
A gentle simmer lets the potatoes soften evenly without breaking apart, and the salt seasons them through.
Simmering Bring the stock to a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, and partially cover. The potatoes are done when they crush easily against the side of the pot.
-
Take the pot off the heat and blend with a stick blender, or in a jug blender in 2 batches, until completely smooth. Return the soup to low heat.
~5 min
Blending off the heat prevents hot soup from erupting, and blending in batches avoids overfilling the jug.
If the blended soup looks thicker than you like, loosen it with a splash of the hot chicken stock rather than water so the flavour stays full.
-
Stir in the 100 ml cream and the black pepper and warm through for 2 minutes without boiling. Taste and adjust the salt, then ladle into bowls.
~2 min
Warming without boiling keeps the cream from splitting and preserves its silky texture.
