This soup has been around for centuries. A classic peasant soup, Julia Child (and so many others) have added their “spin” to this soup and my recipe is adapted from a combination of those methods and our recipe from the Holly Hotel. Potato Leek Soup and Tomato-Basil Soup were staples at the Holly Hotel, appearing often when we made our soups of the day.

One of main differences in this recipe is that it is dairy-free (i.e., no addition of butter or cream) and we often made these soups for guests who avoided dairy. It is, however, not gluten-free but can be easily adapted.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of fresh leeks, white and light green parts only, washed and thinly sliced.
• 4 medium size russet potatoes, peeled and thin sliced
• 1 small onion or shallot, peeled and thin sliced
• 4 cups of vegetable stock (your own or a premium, low-sodium brand)*
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon of dried (or tarragon.) Waiting for Chrissy’s herb garden
• 1/2 teaspoon of Herbs de ‘Provence
• 1 slice of bold white bread (I use sourdough) very lightly toasted and torn into pieces

*While you are preparing your soup, you can make a simple vegetable stock by using the cleaned green leek parts, carrot peelings, onion peelings, celery peelings, etc. or whatever other vegetable scraps you may have been saving in a freezer bag for this purpose. If possible, start this earlier in the day, add a bay leaf, bring to a boil and then simmer for as long as you can before building your soup. ( “vegetable stock”)

Instructions

1. Add two tablespoons of olive (or other) oil to your stock pot with the leeks and potatoes. Sweat the vegetables until they begin to get soft, about 4-5 minutes. (If dairy is not a concern, use 50/50 butter and olive oil.
2. Slowly ladle just your stock into the hot stock pot with the potatoes and leeks in four batches, stirring constantly, until the soup comes to a rapid boil. Add the bay leaf and thyme, a little salt and pepper. Continue on medium heat until the potatoes become soft, about 10-12 minutes.
3. If your soup looks too thin, let it continue to cook until reduced. If it is too thick, add a little more stock. You want a “stew” like consistency.
4. Add the torn bread pieces to the pot, reduce heat to low/sim and allow the bread to become completely absorbed, about another 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprig.
6. Blend the soup in batches in a blender or use a stick, or immersion, blender. I prefer immersion blenders because regular blenders tend to “whip” up too much of the potato starch, thus making it gummy. Return blended soup to stock pot.
7. Hold at simmer, test for salt. Garnish and serve.

You can make a nice garnish by thinly slicing your leftover and washed green leek leaves, dried thoroughly, and tossed with a spray of olive oil, a little flour, salt and pepper. Fry them well until they become brown and crisp. They should be matchstick size. Garnish atop of soup. Well-done bacon crumbles are also a nice garnish.



I miss making this for our guests.

Enjoy!

George