This recipe goes quick and it’s really not rocket science but one thing I do want to touch base on is the vegetable known as Leeks, what are they? Leeks are actually part of the onion family and if you ever smell one it won't come as much of a surprise. A little milder than regular onions and slightly sweeter, these guys are usually eaten year round as they are fairly easy to grow. The white/yellow/light green part is more commonly used but the dark green leaves do have some good flavor, they're just more fibrous and need extra cooking time. THE most important thing to keep in mind when working with leeks is they must be cleaned properly. These guys grow in the dirt and they're layering leaves makes it easy for sand and dirt to get caught in them. I slice the bottom roots off then usually slice them in half long ways to expose the sections and let them sit in some cold water for a few minutes, agitating them lightly. This will help rinse them and all the dirt and sand, which is heavier than water, will fall out and float to the bottom. 

Here’s What You'll Need: 

4 leeks, cleaned properly and thinly sliced 

2 shallots, thinly sliced 

4-5 whole garlic cloves, I used some confit garlic I had left over 

8 potatoes, medium diced, skins on (I used Yukon Golds) 

1 stick of butter 

1 quart of whole milk 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Start by melting a whole stick of butter in a medium saucepot and then add your leeks and shallots. Sweat these guys out till they're translucent which should only take about 5 minutes. Next, add in your garlic and let all those flavors melt together for a minute or two; the garlic will do most of its cooking later. When everything has had time to sweat and starts smelling amazing you can add your potatoes, milk and heavy cream. Aside from being super easy, there’s almost no clean up with this recipe either, do it all in one pot. Bring the potatoes up to a simmer in milk and keep them there for about 40-60 minutes. This cook time really depends on how small you cut your potatoes but you want them fork tender. 

When your potatoes are don’t cooking, puree them. There are two ways of doing this: you can either throw them in a blender (which almost everyone has) OR you can use my favorite kitchen tool, a hand blender aka immersion blender. Puree everything until smooth and taste as you go along. Chances are you're gonna need a good amount of salt. If you feel it’s too thick, you can either thin it out with more milk, chicken stock or even some water. I like to use course ground black pepper for seasoning this soup and I like to use a lot of it. You don't have a lot of ingredients here so seasoning right is important; everything has to stand out on its own. I like to leave the skins on for this reason so we have a bit of contrast in texture. Also, like almost all fruits and veggies, all the nutrients are found in the skins so why throw that away? 

There’s a few ways you can garnish this soup. The must-have is the toasted or charred piece of bread rubbed with fresh garlic straight out of the oven. Throw that on the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup over it to start to soften it up. You can even throw some more confit or poached garlic on top too (its really more sweet than astringent at this stage). The other garnish that most of you will probably love is fresh buttered popcorn seasoned with S+P. Surprising but it’s actually a great garnish for pureed soups like this. The natural flavor profile of the popped corn plays well off all the dairy and silky smooth potatoes. Its also great for texture in a soup as it still has some bite but absorbs some of the goodness. Pomegranate seeds, different nuts or flavored oils all make for great seasonal garnishes, try it and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Tags: recipe, recipes, soup, potato, leeks, onions, comfort food