potato leek soup

I bought lovely potatoes and slender young leeks at the farmer's market last Friday and knew immediately that I wanted to try making a creamy potato leek soup. It's perfect 'soup weather' now, a mix of wind, sun, cold, and rain showers. This soup is comforting, warming, and so delicious. Plus, I found a way to make a creamy soup without using loads of actual cream...the solution is so simple!

country girl's original Potato Leek Soup

1 pound potatoes*, peeled and cubed into bite-size pieces

2 leeks, washed of debris, sliced thin up until the dark green leafy part which you can save for stock; I used 3 leeks, because they were very thin and young.

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock I used water and buillon cubes

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

Boil potato cubes in broth until tender, with a lid askew on the pot to prevent too much loss of moisture.

While potatoes are boiling, melt 2 tablespoons in a pan over medium heat. 

Add sliced leeks to butter in pan, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and cook until soft, being careful not to brown.

When the potatoes are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove a little less than half of the potato cubes to a bowl.

Puree or mash the remaining potatoes in pot with broth until smooth. This gives the soup a wonderfully creamy texture, so that you don't have to add alot of cream!

Return the whole potato cubes to the pot, along with the cooked leeks.

Turn off the heat.

Add the cream. Stir to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Optional Addition: 

Fry slices of bacon in an ungreased pan until crisp; allow to cool on a plate; crumble over soup.

*click here to see the best types of potatoes for soup

...and HERE is where you can find the Typhoon scale in my photos, along with other really cute ones, on amazon.

As humble as it's ingredients are, and as simple as it looks, this soup makes me wish I would never get full just so I could keep eating it. It's that good.

xoxo country girl