When I was at the market the other day I saw some nice looking leeks and suddenly thought I’d like to try making potato and leek soup. To be honest, I don’t even know if I’d ever had potato and leek soup before, but on a wintry weekend it sounded like just the thing. So after going through a few online recipes I did my usual mashup and it turned out great, with a lovely smooth texture, total comfort food (and even better the next day). Some of the recipes I saw added cream after blending but I wanted to keep it “lighter” and it was quite filling as it was.

Ingredients and instructions below…

• 500 gr potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 400 gr leeks (white part only), cleaned and cut into 1 cm slices
• 2 medium sweet onions, diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, diced
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 – 1..5 litres broth
  (I used chicken, but you can also use veggie broth)
• croutons (optional)
• greek yoghurt (optional)

Cut up all the veg then heat the olive oil and butter in a large heavy pot. When it starts to froth add the onions, leeks and garlic and mix well, then a few minutes later stir in the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Cover with a vented lid and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft but not browned.

Add about a litre of the broth and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a med-low heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until the veggies are cooked through. Let the pot cool a bit on a cooling rack (5-10 minutes) then gently blend with a stick blender until smooth. Be careful not to over blend or use too high a setting as this will make the potatoes go “gluey”.

Reheat the soup, adding more broth and seasoning if you like. Ladle into bowls and top with crispy croutons and a dollop of strained greek yoghurt (or crème fraîche).