Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

Cream of leek and potato soup is one of my favourites so I was surprised when I looked at the recipe index page to see that I hadn’t written one up for the blog. Dear readers, as I’ve just made a batch for my lunch today, here it is! Home made soup is a great budget option if your grocery bill is taking a battering these days and cooks quickly on the hob. It’s warming, comforting and tastes delicious too. You can either serve it as a completely smooth, blended soup (served chilled it would be a French-style Vichyssoise and very dinner party-worthy) or, as I prefer, part blended for a more rustic texture.

• Serves 4
• 2 large leeks (white part only), washed, quartered lengthways and chopped finely
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 litre of chicken stock
• 1 tbsp dry white wine
• 3 tbsps sour or double cream
• Salt, white pepper and black pepper
• Optional: blue cheese or finely chopped chives or parsley for garnish

To make…

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan on the hob. Once melted, add all the chopped vegetables to the pan and coat them thoroughly. Sprinkle with a little salt and very gently, sweat the vegetables for about 8 minutes. Next, make a cartouche by tearing off a square of baking parchment, fold it in half three times and then roughly tear a rounded edge on the outer edge so that, when you open it, it forms a circle. Lay it on top of the vegetables and scrunch it down around the edges. The combination of cooking in a mixture of steam and butter really brings out the flavour of the vegetables.
• Remove the cartouche, add the wine and the stock. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Take a couple of ladles of the veg, put them in jug and blitz them with a hand held blender until smooth; return to the pan. Stir in the cream. Season with white pepper and salt to taste.
• Spoon into warmed bowls and serve with the garnish of your choice; chopped chives or parsley, a swirl of cream, black pepper, a little crumbled blue cheese and some crusty bread.

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