Potato and Leek Soup
26 September 2024
Potato and Leek Soup
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4-6Warm up with our potato and leek soup, a simple yet hearty blend of tender potatoes and sweet leeks, perfect for a cosy, comforting lunch.
Top Tip: Take the time to cook your onions and leeks slowly as this adds extra flavour.
Ingredients
- 3 slices of bread, cubed
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 large potatoes, peeled & chopped
- 2 pints (1100ml) of stock (vegetable or chicken)
- 2 tbsp of oil (vegetable or olive oil)
- 2 whole leeks, washed & sliced
- 1 large onion, sliced
- Salt and pepper
Variations / Inspirations:
Soups are really easy to replicate using multiple vegetables, and great for batch cooking and freezing. The technique is mostly the same, you can just swap out the leeks for another vegetable. If using a root vegetable like carrot or parsnip, you will only need one small potato, which helps thicken the soup. Here are some other ideas using the same method:
- Carrot Soup (add 1 tsp of ground cumin when cooking onions to give an extra flavour)
- Broccoli Soup
- Parsnip Soup (add 1 tsp of curry powder when cooking onions to give an extra flavour)
- Pea Soup (add a few leaves of fresh mint before blitzing to make it really summery)
Method
1. Add oil to a large saucepan and heat up to medium heat.
2. Add onions and turn heat down to low and cook onions for 10 minutes slowly (ideally without colour).
3. Add garlic and leeks and cook for a further 5-8 minutes until soft.
4. Add stock, potatoes, salt and pepper and simmer until the potatoes are soft (around 10-15 minutes).
5. While this is cooking, make the croutons by heating the oil in a frying pan until hot. Add the cubed bread and fry until crispy. Keep turning croutons in the pan to make sure they are evenly cooked and to prevent burning.
6. Use a stick blender to blitz the soup until smooth.
7. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
8. Serve in a bowl with croutons on top.
Recipe by James Golding, Head of Food Education, Table Talk Foundation
Table Talk Foundation (registered charity: 1190504) inspiring a new generation through food, to live happier and healthier lives. Through their food education in schools, they teach young people how to cook preparing them with fundamental skills for the rest of their lives.