There are many variations to this and I’ve loved almost all of them. Sometimes the broth is half water and half milk, sometimes it’s all chicken broth, sometimes it’s chicken broth and milk. Sometimes there are just leeks and potatoes; other times I add chopped celery. Here’s what I did last night and it came out great. Even my “I hate onions” kid liked it. (Don’t tell her leeks are part of the onion family.)
Leeks can be hard to clean. What I do is cut the really tough top part of the greens off, but leave the root (bulb) intact at first. Slice the leek from the top down to the root, not cutting all the way through. Turn it and do this again so you’ve opened it up into fourths. Then hold under running water and separate the pieces so you can rinse all the dirt out. Finally, slice the root end off and slice the leek.
Leek and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs butter
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups sliced leeks
- 2 to 3 cups peeled diced potatoes
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp or more pepper
- 1 cup half and half or milk
Instructions
- Melt the butter and saute the leeks and garlic about 10 minutes, until very soft. Stir it all up frequently and keep the heat low enough so the garlic doesn’t brown.
- Add everything else except the milk and bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Basically, you just want to make sure the potatoes are cooked. If you like, blend parts of the soup in the blender or using a handheld mixer, but you can skip this step and just have chunkier soup. When the soup has cooled just a bit, add the milk or cream, stir and serve.
- This soup is just as good cold–at which point you can call it Vichyssoise.
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