Leek and Potato Soup
Creamy potatoes, leeks, fennel and carrot with a hint of garlic, oregano and fresh thyme.
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Servings:
Equipment
- 1 large heavy-based saucepan with a lid
Ingredients
- 50 g butter
- olive oil
- 1 onion - roughly chopped
- 3 leeks - sliced using as much as possible of the tender green leaves
- 1 carrot - finely grated
- 1 fennel - roughly chopped optional
- 1 small finely sliced banana chilli optional
- 2-3 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
- 1 handful celery leaves - roughly chopped optional
- ¼-½ tsp fenugreek powder optional
- freshly ground white pepper you can also use black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1½ tsp dried oregano
- 400 g potatoes
- 1 litre vegetable or meat stock of your choice or 140 ml yoghurt, cream, kefir or milk and 840 ml stock.
- salt to taste
Garnish
- 2 cloves garlic - finely sliced
- 1 spring onion or finely shredded tender leaves of a small leek
- 60 ml yoghurt or kefir to swirl (mix in 1 tsp flour to stop it curdling when heated)
- 100 g grated cheese of your choice such a cheddar or parmesan or crumbled feta
Instructions
Leek and Potato Soup
- Melt the butter with a dash of olive oil and saute the leeks with a pinch of fenugreek powder and dried oregano for about a minute. Add the onions, fennel, celery leaves, carrot and fresh chilli. See notes for the chunky soup version.
- As soon as they soften, add the potatoes, garlic, bay leaf, freshly ground white (or black) pepper and fresh thyme.
- Cook for another 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let anything burn.
- Add half the stock and boil - slowly add the remaining stock, cover and simmer until all the vegetables are soft. About 30 minutes.
- If you are replacing the stock with yoghurt, cream or kefir - only add the 840ml of stock at this stage. If you are adding milk you can add it now.
- Remove the bay leaf and fresh thyme, whizz vegetables with a stick blender and adjust the seasoning - you may want to add salt at this stage. Add more milk or water if the soup is too thick to achieve the right consistency. If using, stir in the yoghurt or kefir (mixed with a teaspoon of flour) and slowly bring the soup back to a boil for 3 or 4 seconds.
- Finely slice the garlic and fry in a little oil, together with the leek tops or spring onions.
- Garnish your soup with garlic chips and fried leek tops, a swirl of yoghurt and/ or grated cheese or crumbled feta.
Notes
Chunky Soup Version
If you prefer to keep the vegetables whole, slice them a little thinner and chop the potatoes into small cubes. Grate or cube the carrot and finely grate the garlic. Otherwise, the method is the same.
For the chunky version, you may also wish to make garlicky croutons to garnish your soup! Toss some cubed bread in olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and dried oregano and gently fry over in a little more oil.
Use a good-quality stock cube if you don't have homemade stock. Ensure you use enough stock cube(s) for 1 litre of water.