Potato Leek Soup

I am not sure where exactly my Aunt got this recipe, but what I do know is that it is very delicious. A couple of notes here, last night I used regular white potatoes as opposed to the russet this recipe called for. And, since the white potatoes are rather small I used six of them. Be sure to wash the leeks really thoroughly as dirt is often inside the crevices. And, I have gotten away with using 3 large leeks and it turned out fine. Be sure to boil the potatoes and leeks 'til the potatoes are soft otherwise it will come out tasting really weird. I can attest to this. Also, as far as the puree goes I don't have one of those emulsion tools nor do I have a food mill, which would probably make this process a heckuva lot easier. So, I take a ladle full of soup and add it to my blender. Be super careful about this because the soup is very hot and the lid can fly off once you start blending if you don't have it on tight. I usually put a towel over the blender, hold it down, and I do several pulses until I know the soup isn't going to fly out everywhere , which I can also attest to, and then I blend. I pour it out into another bowl, and continue doing this in batches until the soup is completely pureed.

4 Large Leeks
2 Large Russett Potatoes
4 Tbsp Butter
6 cups Chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and dice the Potatoes. Wash and cut the Leeks (only use the whitish part of the Leeks).
In a Dutch Oven, or whatever pot will do for Soup, sauté the Leeks and Potatoes into the butter for about 15-30 minutes over Medium heat.
Pour in the 6 cups of chicken stock and let simmer till potatoes are soft. I "boiled" the soup to make it go even faster due to having to play volleyball within the hour. Add salt (I did several shakes of the salt shaker). Puree. Add back to Soup pot and continue to add salt and pepper to taste.

Again, I just use several shakes of the salt and pepper shaker until it tastes seasoned. I eat the soup with a nice chunk of french bread. Yum. And, despite all the words I've put in this post, the soup is relatively quick to make. It took me a little over an hour from prep to finish.

Enjoy!

Emily


(Click here for printable recipe)