I genuinely think this might be the thing I cook the most.
I know food writers say this kind of thing all the time, and if they actually ate what they said they did as often as they say they do, there would be literally no meals left for eating out or trying something new or having a fish finger. And what would life be without fish fingers? So I call bullshit a lot of the time.
But I really and truly do eat a hell of a lot of leek and potato soup. In fact, I think it was one of the first recipes I blogged back in the blogspot days I love it so much. And my love of it surprises me. Surely I should be eating something more glamorous as my most cooked dish?
Or maybe this Northern Irish institution of a dish is a reminder that I love living where I do. That yes, I live somewhere that is conservative with both a large and a small c, but that there is a lot of good happening where I live. That simple soup using ingredients I can buy anywhere is actually what I want to eat more often than anything.
So leek and potato soup. Take it as my token of love for life on this wee island. Take it as a feeling of home. Take it as a really delicious lunch.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
~
To make leek and potato soup, I guess we are going to need some leeks. Chop off as much as is manky. Sometimes it is a mere sliver off the top, sometimes it is near enough the whole green section, but manky bits be gone.
Wash the leeks well. The absolute best way to do this is to soak them in water and let the gritty bits sink to the bottom of a bowl, but I’m in no way going to downplay my lazy girl ways and let you know that majority of the time, I buck them in a colander and it is fine.
In fact, I’ve probably googled how to spell colander more than I’ve washed leeks the other way, so crack on.
Throw a lump of butter into a pan. I specify a weight because this is a recipe and I have some kind of standards, but to be honest, I feel we should weigh butter with our emotions rather than our weighing scales, so whatever is good for you. Likewise, if you have an annoying scraping at the bottom of the dish, it will probably suffice.
If you are a weirdo who uses margarine, why are you even here?
Seriously, welcome, but do use some oil for frying rather than the marg.
It just tastes nicer, promise.
Add the leek, stirring well and then turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
While the leeks for this leek and potato soup are cooking, you are probably going to want to sort out some potatoes.
You definitely want to sort out some potatoes, otherwise you are just eating leek soup.
Which reminds me of my millennial obsession with the book ‘French Women Don’t Get Fat’ and being told to live off leeks for two days.
Which I did, but all it did was make me a bit grumpy, rather than magically thin and French and attractive in a camel coat.
So please, just get some potatoes and peel them and chop them into chunks.
The smaller you chop your chunks, the quicker the soup will cook. My lazy girl tendency means I usually aim for big chunks, then I can use the extra time to scroll through the Sezane website and dream of life in a bistro in the 6th arrondissement hang out the washing.
Fire the potatoes into the pan with the stock.
I am so lazy I never really bother actually making up the stock, I just buck in two stock cubes…
And some water.
Simmer until the potatoes are ready. This is where the size of the potato chunks matter, but it is usually between 10 and 20 minutes, so it depends how deep you want to go with the French girl fantasy and need to start going to a mirror to see if you can achieve a freshly shagged tousle all of your own much hoovering you have to do.
Add some cream.
I have no idea why this cream is in a glass.
Probably something to do with a dropped carton and trying to fight off the dog.
Or something.
But add the cream, be it from a glass or the carton or direct from a cow.
Blend the soup, and taste for seasoning. If it is a little lacklustre, it probably just needs some more salt. Top with loads of black pepper, and enjoy.
