Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

This is one of Jim’s all time favourite soups.

Soup Season is all through the year for us.  Sure, the soups change with the seasons, but there is still…Soup.  And of course I get it, Soup Season implies all the warm, stick-to-your-ribs, ‘just like Mom used to make’, ‘cure what’s ailing you’ soups.  That classic Chicken Noodle soup, or Matzo Ball soup, Roasted Tomato, Minestrone, Cream of anything soup, Beef Barley soup…the list is endless.  Those soups that are meant to cuddle you on a cold winter’s eve.  

One of our family’s favourite soups is Leek and Potato. If I mention to Jim that this is coming up during the week, he is one happy camper.

Roasting the Veggies Makes all the Difference

Early on I realized that caramelizing any veggie intensifies their flavours, as well as creates a superbly delicious crust.  So pretty well any time I’m using veggies as the star of the soup, they’re getting roasted first.  And these spuds are no exception. Roast potatoes are awesome all on their own, so in a soup, the soup can only get awesome-er, right?!  And when you puree them all up, those crusty bits get blended into the velvety-ness of the soup, and it just tastes so much better.

Where I volunteer, requests for this soup happen all the time. It is not only easy and inexpensive, it is so smooth and tasty.  Once you’ve made this for your family, it will turn into a regular soup on the menu, I promise!

I add an onion to roast along with the potatoes.  And I coat them all lightly with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs.  Now, your herb choices are endless.  I usually opt for dill in the Spring, and rosemary in the cooler months.  But you can go with thyme, sage, marjoram, even hot pepper flakes.  Just use fresh green herbs.  Spread them all out onto a baking sheet, and let the oven do the work. 

Once the potato and onion have turned the perfect golden brown and softened in the oven, they will go into a blender or food processor.  Now stock gets added.  I like to use chicken stock (homemade if at all possible) because it adds such a buttery goodness.  But you can totally use vegetable stock, if you want to keep this meal vegetarian.  Puree it all up till it becomes pure velvet.  With a soup like this, having potatoes as the base, there is no need to add any cream to make it creamy.  The potatoes do a magnificent job.  

Sautéing the Leeks Means Texture

And instead of just simmering the leeks in stock, I like to sauté them separately.  This gives them their own flavour and texture.  Then the pureed soup gets added back to the leeks, and gets a final warm through.  Play with the seasonings: I’ve kept it pretty classic with dill, or rosemary and thyme.  But some heat, or even curry would work great instead.  Make it your own.  After making this so many times, I received the lovely idea of adding a little wine to the soup from fellow blogger, Abi Bordigioni of Abi’s Farmhouse Kitchen.  Natural, since she is surrounded by wine on her winery  Jealous. Thanks!!  See, everything good can still be made even better.  The wine really cuts through the richness of the soup, and adds a perfect crisp brightness.

How to serve Potato Leek Soup

For sure there is a salad on the side.  To garnish this soup, why not grill up some sourdough covered with copious amounts of gruyere or cheddar cheese?  It’s marvellous!  Or if you have made up a batch of savoury granola, this is great time to sprinkle some on top.   Here is a great Dukkah Granola recipe.

And as an over the top garnish, grill up some prosciutto or bündnerfleish (a dry cured German version of proscuitto)  These slices turn into wonderfully crispy chips which you can crumble up and sprinkle on top.  They are slightly addictive for snacking as well!  Just lay out slices onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes till crispy.  Let cool and crumble as big or small as you want.

When you have finished the soup, and you feel you’d like it thinner (sometimes the potatoes end up being more than what was asked for, which is fine) then just add a bit more stock and warm it through.  Or, if you are storing any leftovers in the fridge, it will thicken as well.  Go ahead and add some stock or even water if that is all you have.  But you don’t need to be left without any stock.  At this point, why not use my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder to make up enough liquid to help out.  It’s such a handy ingredient to keep in the fridge.  You can find the recipe here.

The Best way to Re-warm Potato Leek Soup

If you are rewarming it, do so on low to medium low, with the lid slightly ajar.  Keeping it covered and reheating it over too high a flame will cause the soup to turn a grey shade.  You don’t want that.  It won’t affect the flavour, but we do eat with our eyes first, right?!  Also, the higher the heat, the more you will need to stir, to ensure that the solids won’t start to char at the bottom of the pot

Love Jen

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ROASTED POTATO and LEEK SOUP

A velvety roasted potato soup with sautéed leeks, the perfect soup on a cold eve, just add a gruyere crouton and call it dinner!

Course Soup

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes. This will be approximately 4 medium. Slice into 8- 12 pieces
• 1 yellow onion , quartered
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 tbsp fresh dill or rosemary
• kosher salt
• cracked pepper
• 2 leeks , darker green removed, cut lengthwise, checked for any grit and then sliced into thin half moons
• 1/4- 1/3 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme , chopped
• 4 cups of vegetable stock, plus extra (see Notes below) (or chicken stock if you aren't aiming for a vegetarian dish)
• 2 tbsp fresh dill or thyme for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Place your sliced potato pieces (I've directed to cut each potato into 8-12 cubes, as this will create more surface area to caramelize and reduce the roasting time) and your quartered onion in a bowl. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, rosemary, and approx 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.

3. Lay out on a baking sheet and roast till the surfaces are nicely browned, and the potato pieces just soft enough!  This should take between 20-30 minutes.

4. Remove and let cool.

5. Once cool, add to a blender or food processor with 4 cups of stock, and puree until smooth.

6. In a medium stock pot, heat 1 tbsp or so olive oil over med-high heat. Add the leeks and sauté till just golden and softened, about 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the wine if using, to deglaze the pot, and add a lovely bright crispness to the flavours. Simmer 2-3 minutes.  Add a pinch of pepper.

7. Add the pureed potato mixture to the leeks. Warm through.
8. Add fresh, chopped thyme.

9. Re-season, if needed with salt and pepper to taste.  Finish with a final crack of fresh pepper.

10. Serve with savoury granola, crispy pancetta or grilled bread or croutons. I like one larger piece of crusty bread, lightly oiled and grilled briefly to get the crisp on. Then cover each piece with grated gruyere (or cheese of choice) and put back under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Recipe Notes

If you use vegetable stock, this is a lovely vegetarian meal. However if you'd like to use chicken stock, this is great as well. And if you want to add cubed cooked kielbasa or smoked ham pieces, this would definitely make the soup more hearty.

How about switching up the seasonings? I've used dill and thyme or tarragon in Spring, and classic rosemary and thyme in the Autumn and Winter. But if you sprinkled the potatoes with curry and cumin before roasting, and then adding another tsp of curry or ground coriander to the leeks, this would definitely be amazing as well.

The wine is optional, but will add a lovely flavour, and cut through the richness of the soup.

If you find that the soup is too thick for your liking, just add some stock to thin to desired consistency. This may happen if there are leftovers and you take the container out of the fridge.